GIFT  OF 

SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 

DR.  JOHN  R.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 

JAMES  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORI 

to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


^ 


HISTORY 


STATE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND 


PKOVIDENCE    PLANTATIONS. 


BY 

SAMUEL    G  K  E  E  N  E   ^  K  N  O  L  D. 


VOL.    I. 
1636  —  1700 

FOURTH  EDITION. 


PROVIDEXCE,   R.I.: 

PRESTON    &    ROUNDS. 

1894. 


SOiii 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860, 

Bt  SAMUEL  GREENE  ARNOLD, 

In  the  Clerk's  OflBce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  Rhode  Islaad. 


TO  THE 

PEOPLE    OF    EHODE-ISLAXD 

®Iris  f  istorg 

OF   THE   TRIALS   AND   THE   TEITJMPHS   OF   THEIR    AX0E9T0B8 

IS    IX SCRIBED 

BY       THEIR       F  E  L  L  O  W- C  I  T  I  Z  E  If  , 

SAMUEL  GREENE  ARNOLD. 


/• 


PKBPACE. 

The  work,  of  which  the  first  volume  is  now  presented,  is  the  result 
of  many  years'  labor.  To  trace  the  rise  and  progress  of  a  State,  the 
offspring  of  ideas  that  were  novel  and  startling  even  amid  the  philo- 
/)  sophical  speculations  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  ^ whose  birth  was  a 
protest  against,  whose  infancy  was  a  struggle  with,  and  whose  maturity 
was  a  triumph  over,  the  retrograde  tendency  of  established  Puritanism ; 
a  State  that  was  the  second-born  of  persecution,  whose  founders  had 
been  doubly  tried  in  the  purifying  fire ;  a  State  which,  more  than  any 
other,  has  exerted,  by  the  weight  of  its  example,  an  influence  to  shape 
the  political  ideas  of  the  present  day,  whose  moral  power  has  been  in 
the  inverse  ratio  with  its  material  importance,  and  of  which  an  eminent 
historian  of  the  United  States  has  said  that,  had  its  territory  "  corre- 
sponded to  the  importance  and  singularity  of  the  principles  of  its  early 
existence,  the  world  would  have  been  filled  with  wonder  at  the  phenom- 
ena of  its  history,"  is  a  task  not  to  be  lightly  attempted  or  hastily  per- 
formed. 

The  materials  for  Rhode  Island  history  are  more  abundant  than 
many  have  supposed.  They  are  widely  scattered  and  difficult  to  col- 
lect or  arrange,  and  hence  the  opinion  has  seemed  -to  prevail  that  too 
much  was  lost  to  rend  r  the  preservation  of  the  remainder  an  object  of 
interest.  But  some  j  ersons  have  thought  otherwise,  and  three  attempts, 
prior  to  this,  have  been  made  to  write  the  history  of  the  State.  The 
first  was  by  Governor  Stephen  Hopkins,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Dec- 
.iii>''on  of  Independence,  who,  in  1762,  commenced  to  publish  "An  his- 
torical account  of  Providence,"  since  reprinted  in  the  second  series  of 


vi  PREFACE.  ^1 

Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  volume  ix.     Only  one  chapter  A 

completed  when  the  struggle  for  independence  interrupted  the  woi  ,  * 
which  was  never  resumed.  The  second  was  by  Hon.  Theodore  Fostei  ^ 
a  Senator  in  Congress  from  Rhode  Island,  who  collected  a  large  number 
of  original  papers  and  made  copies  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  colony 
records.  But  one  chapter  of  this  work  was  ever  written.  His  death  pre- 
vented its  completion.  The  third  attempt,  by  the  late  Henry  Bull  of  New- 
port, was  more  successful.  He  published  in  the  Rhode  Island  Repub- 
lican, 1832-6,  a  series  of  articles  entitled  "  Memoirs  of  Rhode  Island," 
embracing  the  principal  events  of  each  year  from  the  settlement  of  the* 
State  down  to  1799.  The  care  taken  in  the  preparation , of  these  arti- 
cles leads  us  to  regret  that  Mr.  Bull  did  not  extend  his  labors  still 
further,  and  embody  them  in  a  more  permanent  form.  These,  with  the 
five  volumes  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Collections,  with  the  valua- 
ble notes  of  the  editors  and  authors  of  each,  the  more  than  thirty  vol- 
umes of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  the  lately  published 
Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut,  of  Massachusetts,  and  now  those  of  thb 
State  in  the  course  of  publication  under  the  admirable  supervision  of  . 
the  Secretary  of  State,  the  later  editions  of  early  Massachusetts  authors, 
Morton,  Prince,  and  others,  but  particularly  the  Journal  of  Winthrop 
with  the  copious  notes  of  its  liberal  and  learned  editor,  Hon.  James 
Savage,  the  life  of  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island  by  Professor  Knowles, 
a  perfect  magazine  of  important  facts, — .'hese  are  some  of  the  principal 
printed  authorities  most  accessible  to  the  general  reader.  There  are 
also  a  great  number  of  books  in  the  librai'cs  of  Harvard  and  Brown 
Universities,  and  more  than  all  in  the  unrivailed  collection  of  works  on 
American  history  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Joi'n  Carter  Brown,  of  this 
city,  whirl  I  shed  much  light  upon  the  annals  of  Rhode  Island.  Besides 
these  there  are  several  religious  discourses,  follov?ing  the  plan  of  Cal- 
lender,  also  historical  addresses,  and  some  local  nanatives,  that  contain 
interesting  facts  bearing  upon  the  general  history  of  t  >e  State. 

The   unpubli?>hed   materials  are   the   records  of  the^  several  towns, 
those  of  this  and  the  neighboring  States  that  have  not  b<^n  ino^udt:d  io  ^ 


PREFACE.  VI] 

the  printed  volumes,  the  private  collections  of  Hutchinson,  Trumbull, 
Hinckley,  Prince  and  others,  in  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  of  Foster  and  Backus  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society,  and  yet  more  important,  the  hitherto  undeveloped  resources  in 
the  British  archives,  at  London,  which  clear  up  many  points  never  be- 
fore explained.  These  are  the  chief  sources  of  information  that  have 
been  consulted  in  preparing  this  work,  and  will  be  found  referred  to  in 
the  notes. 

Several  months  were  spent  abroad  in  1846-7,  in  the  examination 
of  government  archives,  chiefly  in  England  and  France,  in  search  of 
materials  not  to  be  found  in  America.  The  kindness  of  gentlemen  in 
official  station,  particularly  in  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government, 
in  securing  permission  to  examine  their  records,  and  of  those  in  the 
State  Paper  Offices  at  London,  Paris  and  the  Hague,  in  facilitating  his 
labors,  should  receive  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  writer. 

Copies  of  the  English  documents  herein  referred  to  are  now  in  Mr. 
Brown's  library,  he  having  given  orders,  previous  to  the  author's  visit 
to  England,  to  have  every  thing  pertaining  to  Rhode  Island,  and  much 
more  besides,  copied  for  his  private  collection ;  which  was  done  under 
the  supervision  of  Henry  Stevens,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  whose  experience 
eminently  qualified  him  for  the  task. 

Many  of  these  authorities  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  this  volume, 
and  with  a  large  number  of  new  ones,  both  local  and  general,  will  be 
used  in  the  later  portions  of  the  work. 

The  thanks  of  the  writer  are  due  to  many  friends  who  have  ren- 
dered assistance  in  various  ways  to  lighten  his  labors  :  to  Mr.  John 
Carter  Brown,  to  Hon.  William  E.  Staples,  late  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State,  the  editor  of  Gorton,  and  author  of  the  Annals  of  Providence,  to 
Judge  George  A.  Brayton  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  Dr.  David  King 
and  Rev.  Henry  Jackson,  D.  D.  of  Newport,  to  Hon.  John  R.  Bartlett, 
Secretary  of  State,  to  William  J.  Harris,  Esq.,  and  others,  all  deeply 
interested  in  whatever  pertains  to  the  history  of  their  State,  who  hav« 
given  efficient  aid  by  the  loan  of  books  and  manuscripts. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

The  first  object  attempted  io  this  work  has  been  to  make  it  reliable 
both  as  to  facts  and  dates;  that  it  should  be  a  standard  authority  upon 
the  subject  and  period  of  which  it  treats.  To  accomplish  this  design 
no  pains  have  been  spared,  and  it  has  been  kept  steadily  in  view  even 
at  the  risk  of  making  the  book  less  readable  than  it  might  have  been. 
Many  subjects  are  mentioned  that,  to  the  general  reader,  can  have  little 
or  no  interest,  the  value  of  which  can  only  be  understood  by  those  who 
consult  history  for  a  specific  purpose.  For  the  benefit  of  this  latter  and 
more  limited  class  of  readers,  the  reference  notes  are  made  more  nume- 
rous than  they  would  otherwise  have  been.  The  most  important  dates 
have  been  verified  by  a  tedious  mathematical  process,  unnecessary  here 
to  describe,  but  which  is  essential  to  accuracy  in  many  cases,  owing  to 
a  strange  diversity  that  existed  in  the  mode  of  dating  under  the  Julian 
calendar  before  the  adoption  of  the  Gregorian  or  New  Style  in  1752. 
The  Julian  year  began  on  the  25th  of  March.  February  was  the  12th 
month  and  March  the  1st  month  of  the  year.  Many  papers  between 
the  first  and  twenty-fifth  of  March,  bear  date  as  of  the  coming  year, 
while  others  are  dated  correctly,  according  to  the  Julian  system,  as  of 
the  expiring  year.  This  diversity  of  course  throws  a  doubt  upon  the 
true  date  of  all  correlative  documents  throughout  the  year,  and  has  led 
many  writers  into  error.  That  the  reader  need  not  be  misled  on  this 
point  the  double  date  of  the  year,  between  January  1st  and  March  25, 
is  given  in  the  margin.  If  it  is  desired  to  reduce  the  day  of  the  month 
to  New  Style,  eleven  days  are  to  be  added  to  the  marginal  date. 

That,  notwithstanding  the  labor  and  care  bestowed  upon  these 
pages,  they  contain  some  errors  of  fact  or  date,  perhaps  important 
ones,  it  would  be  presumptuous  to  deny.  The  more  one  explores  the 
labyrinth  of  historical  investigation,  the  less  positive  will  he  become 
of  the  entire  accuracy  of  his  conclusions.  A  conscientious  desire  to 
arrive  at  the  truth,  is  all  that  the  author  dares  to  claim  in  submitting 
this  work  to  the  judgment  of  his  peers.  That  it  will  grate  harshly  upon 
the  ears  of  some,  whose  views  upon  the  questions  of  politics  and  theol- 
ogy involved  in  the  settlement  of  this'  State,  diflfer  from  those  of  it* 


PREFACE.  IX 

founders,  he  is  well  aware.  That  some  may  assail  it  upon  these  grounds 
is  not  improbable,  and  for  such  he  is  prepared ;  while  at  the  same  time 
he  courts  a  generous  criticism  that  may  aid  his  future  labors. 

So  far  as  was  compatible  with  the  above  mentioned  object,  he  has 
endeavored  to  make  the  work  interesting  to  those  who  read  simply  for 
the  sake  of  reading ;  but  he  can  claim  nothing  upon  this  score.  The 
minutiae  of  local  or  of  State  history,  demand  an  attention  to  details 
which  broader  fields  do  not  require,  and  limit,  in  the  same  proportion, 
the  power  of  the  pen.  To  make  a  State  history  both  authentic  and 
popular,  where  the  ground  has  not  already  been  occupied,  would  require 
it  to  be  too  voluminous.  To  enlarge  upon  the  philosophy  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  involved  in  the  settlement  of  Khode  Island,  would 
afford  a  pleasing  relief  from  the  labor  of  critical  research ;  but  this  can 
be  better  done  by  the  reflecting  reader,  or  it  may  furnish  a  theme  for 
some  future  historian,  more  fitted  for  the  task  than  the  writer  feela 
himself  to  be,  who  will  reap  the  laurels  that  he  must  forego. 

Providence,  May  17,  1858. 


ABBEEYIATIONS. 

R.  T.  H.  C. — Rhode  Island  Historical  Collections,  in  5  vols.    - 

R.  I.  Col.  Rec. — Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records,  3  vols,  now  published,  1636- 

170G. 
Conn.  Col.  Rcc— Connecticut  Colonial  Records,  2  vols,  now  published,  1636- 

1G77. 
M.  C.  R. — Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  6  vols,  now  published,  1628-1686. 
M.  H.  C. — Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  in  series  of  10  vols.  each,  of 

which  3  series  are  completed,  and  4  vols,  of  the  fourth.     The 

fij^ure  before  the  letters  denotes  the  series. 
Br.  S.  P.  0.— British  State  Paper  Office. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.     1620—1636. 

Introduction — From  the  Settlement  of  New  England  to  the  Banishment 
of  Roger  "Williams,      .......      1 

Appendix  A. — Early  Life  of  Roger  Williams,  ....  47 

CHAPTER  II.     1636—1638. 
The  Autinomian  Controversy,  ......  51 

CHAPTER  HI. 
The  Aborigines  of  Rhode  Island — ^Peauot  "War,    .  .  .  .72 

CHAPTER  ly. 

History  of  Providence  from  its  Settlement,  1636,  to  the  Organization  of 

the  Government  nnder  the  Parliamentary  Charter,  May,  1647,   .  97 

CHAPTER  V. 

History  of  Aquedneck  from  its  Settlement,  March,  1638,  to  the  Organi- 
zation of  the  Government  under  the  First  Charter,  May,  1647.        .  124 

CHAPTER  VI. 

flistory  of  "Warwick  and  Narraganset  down  to  the  Formation  of  the 
Government  under  the  First  Patent,  May,  1647,  .  .        163 


Xii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII.    1647—1651. 

History  of  the  Incorporation  of  Providence  Plantations  from  the  Adop- 
tion of  the  Parliamentary  Charter,  May,  1647,  to  the  Usurpation 
of  Coddington,  August,  1651,  .  .  .  .  .200 

CHAPTER  VIII.     1651—1663. 

Ill  the  Usurpation  of  Coddington,  August,  1651,  to  the  Adoption  of 
the  Royal  Charter,  November,  1663,        ....        237 
Appendix  B. — Proceedings  in  the  case  of  John  Warner,  .  .  287 

CHAPTER  IX.     16fi3— 1675. 

From  the  Adoption  of  the  Royal  Charter,  November,  1663,  to  tjie  Com-  . 

mencenient  of  King  Philip's  War,  June,  1675,  .  .  .  290 

Appendix  C. — Errors  of  Grahame  and  Chalmers,       .  ".  .  370 

Appendix  D. — Atherton  Company  Correspondence,  .  .  378 

Appendix  E. — Conspiracy  against  John  Clarke  exposed,        .  .  383 

CHAPTER  X.     1675—1677. 

from  the  Commencement  of  Philip's  War,  June,  1675,  to  the  Trial  of 

the  Harris  Causes,  November,  1677,  ....        3S7 

CHAPTER  XI.     1678—1686. 

From  the  Renewal  of  the  Struggle  for  the  Soil  of  Rhode  Island,  1677-'8, 

to  the  Suspension  of  the  Charter,  June,  1686,  .  .  .  439 

Appendix  F. — Answers  of  Rhode  Island  to  the  Board  of  Trade,        .        488 

CHAPTER  Xn.    1686—1700. 

From  the  Commencement  of  the  Andros'  Government  to  the  Close  of 

the  Seventeenth  Century,  .....        492 

Appendix  G. — Founding  of  Trinity  Church,  Newport,      .  .  .  559 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  RHODE  ISLAND. 


CHAPTEK    I. 

INTRODUCTION— FROM  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 
TO  THE  BANISHMENT  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS. 

1620—1636. 

The  direct  causes  which  led  to  the  settlement  of  New  chap. 
England,  had  heen  in  active  operation  for  nearly  seventy  .^-.l^ 
years  before  that  event  took  place.  The  more  remote  in- 
fluences that  led  to  this  result  date  back  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  English  Reformation.  The  spirit  of  re- 
sistance to  clerical  authority  and  papal  aggression,  was 
first  inculcated  in  Great  Britain  byv^ohn  Wickliffe,-^ro- 
fessor  of  Divinity  in  the  University  or~Dxlor3,  It  soon 
spread  to  the  continent  of  Europe,  where  the  teachings  of 
Huss  and  Jerome,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the 
hierarchy,  roused  the  vengeance  of  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, and  led  to  their  martyrdom. 

A  period  of  quiet  succeeded  the  Bohemian  struggle, 
until  the  laxity  of  the  pontifical  court,  under  Leo  X., 
gave  rise  to  the  Reformation  of  Luther.     From  that  time 

VOL.  I. — 1 


ii  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    the  history  of  Europe  presented  a  continuous  scene  of  ac- 

^^^.^.^^  tion  and  reaction  upon  the  fundamental  principles  of  re- 
ligion and  politics.  The  inquisitive  mind  of  Germany, 
was  occupied  in  speculations  which  were  to  open  a  new 
and  brighter  era  to  humanity.  England,  already  in  some 
degree  prepared  for  the  mighty  movement,  soon  asserted 
her  sovereignty  by  severing  her  allegiance  to  the  church 
)f  Komje.  The  spell  of  the  Papacy  was  broken ;  the  first 
jreat  result  of  the  Keformation  was  achieved.  A  spirit 
of  inquiry  was  awakened,  which  could  neither  be  quelled 
by  the  fire  of  persecution,  nor  controlled  by  the  decrees  of. 
princes  or  parliaments.  During  the  reign  of  Edward  VI., 
the  English  Liturgy  was  completed  and  promulgated'  as 
the  ecclesiastical  law  of  the  land.  The  priestly  vestments 
were  retained  in  the  service,  although  strenuously  opposed 
by  many  of  the  reformed  clergy.  The  more  resolute  Prot- 
estants resisted  at  the  outset  all  attempts  to  fasten  upon 
them  the  livery  of  a  church  from  whose  communion  they 
had  withdrawn.  Uniformity  was  the  rock  upon  which 
the  early  Keformers  split.  The  first  demonstration  of 
nonconformity  occurred  at  Frankfort.     The  virulent  per- 

155  4.  secution  of  the  Protestants,  which  commenced  upon  the 
accession  of  Queen  Mary,  caused  great  numbers  of  them 
to  seek  refuge  on  the  continent.  A  small  church  was 
gathered  at  Frankfort,  who  objected  to  the  use  of  some 
portions  of  King  Edward's  service  book.  These  were  sup- 
planted the  next  year  by  a  party  of  their  countrymen 
under  Dr.  Cox,  who  restored  the  English  forms  in  full  as 
prescribed  by  King  Edward,  and  were  hence  called  "  Con- 
formists." Most  of  the  others  went  to  Geneva,  w^here 
they  were  kindly  received  by  Calvin,  were  there  organized, 
and  adopted  a  liturgy  agreeable  to  that  of  the  French 

1  .J  5  8  churches.  The  coronation  of  Queen  Elizabeth  was  the 
signal  for  the  return  of  the  exiles,  and  the  permanent 
though  gradual  establishment  of  the  Protestant  Faith, 
The  reign  of  Elizabeth  was  emphatically  the  age  of  prerog- 


THE    REIGN    OF    ELIZABETH,  3 

ative  in  England.  Never  did  the  authority  of  the  crown  chap. 
maintain  itself  so  absolutely.  Although  some  of  the  Stuarts  v^.,;^. 
afterwards  attempted  to  exercise  arbitrary  power  in  repeat-  15  5  8. 
ed  instances,  yet  none  of  them  wielded  so  uncontrolled 
a  sceptre,  or  conducted  with  the  firmness  or  the  success 
that  characterized  the  last  of  the  Tudors.  Mary  had  been 
a  bigot  in  religion  ;  Elizabeth  became  a  tyrant  in  prerog- 
ative ;  and  because  theology  was  the  prevailing  topic  of 
the  times,  she  seized  upon  that  as  the  most  convenient 
medium  for  confirming  and  manifesting  her  authority. 
The  earliest  enactments  of  her  first  parhament  were  to 
this  end.  The  act  of  uniformity,  prescribing  the  regula- 
tions of  church  service,  preceded  by  a  single  day  the  act 
of  supremacy,  which  vested  in  the  queen  the  right  of 
ecclesiastical  control.  Immediately  upon  the  passage  of 
these  acts  two  parties  arose  in  the  Protestant  Church,  one  -^^  ^.^• 
favoring  the  royal  prerogative,  the  other,  somewhat  more 
true  to  the  spirit  of  the  Keformation,  maintaining  that  in 
things  indifferent,  liberty  should  be  allowed.  Both  were 
at  this  time  pretty  nearly  agreed  in  points  of  doctrine, 
in  the  necessity  of  uniformity  in  public  worship,  and  in 
the  right  of  the  civil  power  to  enforce  it.  The  prerogative 
party,  or  Conformists,  held  that  the  will  of  the  queen  was 
the  only  guide  in  church  affairs  ;  the  Puritans,  that  coun- 
cils or  synods  were  the  proper  tribunals.  The  idea  of 
freedom  of  conscience  as  applied  to  the  individual  was  un-  ' 
known,  or  unrecognized,  by  either  party.  It  was  reserved 
for  another  age  and  a  distant  land  to  develop  in  its  full 
significance  the  grand  result  of  the  Reformation. 

The  passion  of  Elizabeth  for  pageantry  of  every  kind, 
together  with  her  inordinate  love  of  power,  were  the  chief 
causes  which  distracted  her  reign.  The  one  inclined  her 
to  retain  ae  far  as  possible  the  gorgeous  ceremonial  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  the  other  led  her  to  punish  those  who 
desired  a  simpler  ritual  and  plainer  robes.  The  severity 
of  her  measures  against  the  Puritans  at  length  resulted  in 


4  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  the  separation,  which  commenced  in  1566.    The  press  had 

.,^1. already  been  closed  against  them  by  a  decree  of  the  Star 

1 5  6  6i  Chamber.  The  opposition  of  a  large  portion  of  the  peo- 
I  pie  to  the  Romish  vestments,  and  to  certain  ceremonies,  of 
trifling  import  in  themselves,  which  could  easily  have  been 
assuaged  by  temperate, policy,  was  increased  by  the  exercise 
of  arbitrary  power.  Accordingly,  after  solemn  delibera- 
tion, a  number  of  the  deprived  ministers,  with  their  friends, 
determined  to  withdraw  from  the  communion  of  tlie 
established  church,  and  laying  aside  the  English  Liturgy, 
they  adopted  the  Geneva  forms.  Henceforward  there  was 
to  be  no  longer  a  cordial  union  of  Protestants  against ' 
Popery,  but  rather  a  union  of  the  prerogativQ  and  papal 
parties  against  the  Puritans.  This  was  Jess  apparent 
during  Elizabeth's  reign  than  in  that  of  her  successor. 
{  But  the  Reformation  in  England,  so  far  as  the  government 
I  was  concerned,  had  attained  its  culminating  point.  The 
/  breach  thus  commenced  rapidly  widened.  The  doctrinal 
articles  of  the  church,  some  of  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
many  learned  and  pious  men,  were  too  strongly  tinctured 
with  Erastian  principles,  began  to  be  questioned.  Other 
sects  arose,  distinct  in  many  respects  from  the  Puritan 
church,  and  carrying  the  principles  of  the  separation  to  a 
greater  extent,  but  all  who  were  zealous  for  the  Reforma- 
tiofi,  were  indiscriminately  branded  with  the  same  invidi- 
ous epithet.  In  vain  did  the  Puritans  seek  to  appease 
the  resentment  of  their  enemies  by  disowning  the  sec- 
taries. Papists,  Familists,  Baptists  and  Brownists,  were 
denounced  by  the  Puritans  with  equal  zeal  as  by  the  Pre- 
latists,  and  alike  held  up  as  worthy  of  persecution  ;'  but 
the  attempt  thus  made  to  ingratiate  themselves  with 
their  rulers  was  without  success.  In  proportioi  as  the 
\/  ranks  of  non-conformity  were  augmented,  the  st  verity  of 
government  increased,  and  exile,  or  death,  for  c  imes  of 

'  IJeal,  312. 


dt^ 


// 


icienc 


REIGN    OF    JAMES    I. 


iehce,  became  more  frequent  as  the  long  reign  of  chap. 
Elizabeth  drew  to  its  close.'  ^^^'r^ 

The  union  of  the  crowns  of  Scotland  and  England,  16  0  3 
in  the  person  of  James  I.,  inspired  the  Puritans  with  a 
new  but  delusive  hope.  This  fickle  prince,  whose  con- 
summate vanity  as  a  man,  was  the  source  of  his  weakness 
as  a  monarch,  very  soon  forgot  the  precepts  of  the  Scottish 
church,  which  he  had  sworn  to  support,  and  became  the 
tool  of  ambitious  prelates  and  designing  courtiers.  Six 
months  after  he  came  to  the  throne,  occurred  the  celebrated 
conference  at  Hampton  Court,  between  the  bishops  and 
the  Puritans,  at  which  the  king  himself  presided,  and 
made  his  first  public  display  of  that  combination  of  pedan- 
try with  tyranny  which  has  made  his  character,  when 
viewed  in  the  light  of  history,  the  object  of  mingled  aver- 
sion and  contempt.  The  result  of  that  conference  crushed 
the  hopes  of  the  Puritans.  The  triumphant  bishops,  no 
longer  doubtful  of  their  position,  at  once  proceeded  to  urge 
severe  measures  against  the  whole  body  of  Protestant 
non-conformists,  and  secretly  to  court  the  favor  of  the 
papal  party.  At  the  death  of  Archbishop  Whitgift, 
Bancroft,  bishop  of  London,  was  raised  to  the  See  of  Can- 
terbury. This  haughty  prelate  revived  the  persecution  of 
the  Puritans,  and  conducted  it  with  unparalleled  rigor, 
excommunicating  many  who  would  not  receive  a  set  of 
canons  prepared  by  himself  and  passed  by  an  obsequious 
convocation,  although  not  confirmed  by  parliament.  He 
it  was  who  first  asserted  in  England  the  divine  right  of 
the  order  of  bishops,  and  ftrepared  the  church  for  the 
usurpations  of  Laud,  which  afterwards  involved  the  United 
Kingdom  in  civil  war. 

To  bring  the  kirk  of  Scotland  under  the  dominion  of 
the  English  hierarchy  was  a  favorite  project  of  James,  and 
was  actively  promoted  by  the  intrigues  of  Bancroft.  This 
was  a  bold  design,  against  which  the  armorial  bearings  and 

'  For  the  last  three  years  of  her  life  she  became  more  tolerant. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


1C08. 


motto  of  Scotland  might  have  furnished  a  significant  warn- 
ing. It  was  an  index  of  that  aggressive  and  intolerant 
spirit  which  drove  a  large  numjM*-ef-_the  Bnglish  non- 
conformists into  voluntary  exile(]B[o]la^ndJ&ecame  a  refuge  ' 
for  those  whom  persecution  deprived  of  their  natiiii-honic 
The  larger  portion  of  the  refugees  were  rigid(Separatist^^  - 
whose  views,  crude  as  they  might  appear  at  tferfFfescnt 
time,  were  very  much  in  advance  of  those  held  by  the 
mass  of  non-conformists  in  respect  to  the  essential  objects 
hi  the  Reformation.  These  were  the  men  who,  with  their 
descendants  a  few  years  later,  made  the  first  permanent 
settlement  of  New  England.  The  Puritans  for  the  most'* 
part  remained  in  England,  still  clinging  to  the  slender 
chance  of  some  favorable  current  of  affairs.  The  succes- 
sion of  Archbishop  Abbot  to  the  high  position  vacated  by 
the  death  of  Bancroft,  gave  them  renewed  hope.  He  is 
described  as  a  thorough  Calvinist,  a  sound  Protestant, 
and  as  being  suspected  of  Puritanism.  But  his  views,  al- 
though they  served  for  awhile  to  mitigate  the  asperities 
of  the  times,  failed  to  efiect  permanent  relief  The 
worthy  primate  soon  became  unpopular  at  court,  and  fell 
into  disgrace.  The  pretensions  of  King  James  to  arbi- 
trary power  increased,  and  all  who  opposed  the  preroga- 
tive, although  friends  "ot  the  established  churcti,  were  (te- 
as well  as  those  who  were  Ualvlmsts 


nounced  as  Puritans, 

in  theology,  or  reformers  in  church  government  and  wor- 

snip. 


Doctrinal  Puritans. 


.called  State  Puritans,  the  latter 
The  two,  when  united,  comprised 
a  majority  of  the  nation.  The  Arminian  party,  of  whom 
most  of  the  newly  apj^ointed  bishops,  with  Laud  at  their 
head,  were  the  leaders,  allied  with  the  Papal  faction  in 
supporting  the  king.  Such  was  the  condition  of  afiairs  at 
the  close  of  the  reign  of  James  I. 

Meanwhile,  a  portion  of  the  refugees  in  Holland,  after 
twelve  years'  residence  in  that  country,  resolved  to  emi- 
grate   to   America.      Protracted    negotiations    with   the 


'DEPARTURE    OF    THE    PILGRIMS. 


Virginia  Comgaa^  to  secure  a,  patent  to  lands,  and  with  chap. 
TTTCidiHuLb!  ili~irondon  to  provide  the  necessaries  for  emi-  ^■ 
gration,  together  with  earnest   consultations   with  their  16  2o! 
friends  in  England,  now  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
Pilgrims.      After  their  departure  from  Holland,  further 
delays  awaited  them  at  the  English  ports.    .  Twice  were 
they  compelled  by  the  insufficiency  of  their  transports  to 
return,  and  on  the   second  occasion  their  smaller  vessel, 
tne  Speedwell,  of  sixty  tons,  in  wliich  they  had  first  em- 
barked at  Delft  Haven,  was  abandoned  si^nseaworthy.v 
At  length,  on  the  €th  of  September,  1620,  th^M^y^flow^i^  Sept. 
finally  set  sail  from  Plymoutk,  with  her  precious  freioht       ^' 
of  one  hundred  souls,'  to  seek  a  better  land  beyond  the 


seas. 


Whether  we  contemplate  this  act  in  its  intrinsic 
character,  or  regard  it  in  the  magnificence  of  its  results,  it 
assumes  a  degree  of  importance  scarcely  equalled  in  the 
history  of  our  race.  The  stern  devotion  to  principle  which 
impelled  them  to  encounter  the  severest  hardships,  when 
a  simple  act  of  submission  to  a  creed  would  ensure  them 
peace  and  plenty  in  their  English  homes — the  lofty  courage 
wliich  inspired  even  women  and  children  gladly  to  brave 
the  perils  of  the  deep— and,  above  all,  their  unwavering 
faith  in  the  promises  of  an  Omnipotent  Deity,  present 
picture  whose  moral  sublimity  is  not  enhanced  even  by 
the  success  which  has  crowned  their  enterprise.  After  a 
stormy  passage  of  sixty-five  days,  they  dropped  anchor  on 
the  dreary  coast  of  Cape  Cod.  At  the  end  of  another 
tedious  month,  consumed  in  exploring  the  vicinity,  and 
in  preparations  for  landing,  the  Pilgrims  stood  at  last  on 
Plymouth  rock,  v  > 

About  this  time  a  company  of  merchants  and  others 
which  had  been  formed  in  the  West  of  England,  with  Sir 
Ferdinand  Gorges,  governor  of  Plymouth,  at  their  head, 

100,  not  101.— Young's  Pilgrims,  122,  note  1,  and  p.  100,  notes  2,  5. 


8  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

encouraged  by  the  reports  of  the  celebrated  Captain  John 
Smith,  and  supported  by  the  influence  of  some  of  the 
16  2  0.  most  powerful  noblemen  in  the  kingdom,  obtained  a 
charter  of  incorporation,  with  the  exclusive  right  of  plant- 
ing and  governing  New  England.  Tbisjgompany^  known 
as  the  connnil  of  Plymonth^  were  thereby  invested  with 
unlimited  jurisdiction  over  a  region  of  almost  boundless 
extent,  embracing  the  entire  breadth  of  the  continent 
from  sea  to  sea,  between  the  fortieth  and  forty-eighth  par- 
allels of  north  latitude.  But  the  apparent  compass  of 
their  power  was  the  real  measure  of  their  weakness.  So 
violent  was  the  opposition  to  this  monstrous  monopoly, ' 
that  not  even  the  proclamation  of  King  Jame^s,  enforcing 
the  terms  of  the  grant,  and  sustained  by  the  utmost  stretch 
of  the  prerogative,  could  preserve  inviolate  the  charter  of 
the  company./  The  spirit  of  English  liberty,  nourished 
by  the  Puritans  in  proportion  as  the  encroachment  of  the 
crown  increased,  spurned  the  authority  of  an  instrument 
which  fettered  both  sea  and  land.]  Extensive  fishing  ex- 
peditions were  fitted  out  for  ther  coast  of  New  England, 
and  conducted  without  regard  to  the  claims  of  the  coun- 
cil. In  vain  did  the  company  send  out  officers  to  main- 
tain their  authority  in  New  England,  or  appeal  to  the 
king  to  sustain  their  pretensions.  The  parliament  stood 
firmly  on  the  rights  of  the  subject,  until  the  company, 
exhausted  by  fruitless  efibrts  to  secure  their  monopoly,  at 
length  resorted  to  the  sale  of  charters  as  their  sole  source 
of  revenue.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  they  disposed,  in 
various  grants,  of  all  the  lands  in  New  England,  some  of 
them  twice  over  ;  nothing  of  value  remained  to  them  ; 
16  3  5.  many  of  the  original  patentees  had  already  abandoned 
"^^"^  their  interests,  and  the  council  itself  finally  surrendered  its 
charter  and  became  extinct.' 

FrnjD  thj-ii  rnmpnny  thr   pnrrhnnn  of  a  brgr  grnnt  of 

'  Report  of  Board  of  Trade  on  Duke  of  Hamilton's  claim  to  Xarraganset. 
— British  State  Paper  OJice,  New  England  Papers,  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  222. 


THE   MASSACHUSETTS    COMPANY.  9 

lands  in  Massachusetts  was  made,  and  a  party  of  emi-   chap 

-.g^W^",,  1^^ri^^0r  iIip  rli'rppti^^lf^ John  Enflioflht,  name  oveMjie^  _\_ 
same   year,  and  established   themselves  at   Salem,  where  l,'''2  8. 

"^oger  Conant,  from  New  Plymouth,  had  already  made  a  "  ^g  ' 
settlement.  That  enterprise,  originating  in  a  commercial 
speculation,  and  proving  unfortunate,  had  been  abandoned 
by  all  but  Conant  and  a  few  associates,  who,  inspired  by 
the  zeal  of  friends  in  England,  had  remained  to  found 
another  home  where  the  exiles  for  religion  might  find  rest. 

^A  few  of  Endicott's  followers  settlerl  ai  ri1igr1pgfr>wn 
The  next  year  a  royal  charter  was  with  much  difficulty 
obtained,  and  the  Massachusetts  company  became  legally 
a  distmct  trading  corporation.  This  ^'^^  fnllnwP(^]  by  g^ 
emigration  of  about  two  hundred  persons  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  Rev.  Francis  Higgmson.-TlTese  settled^  Batem-and— 

^GharlesttTwn;     The  powers  and  priviteges~~which  the  Mas- 
sachusetts charter  conferred  differed  in  no  essential  par- 
ticulars from  those  of  similar  companies  already  existing. 
That  it  was  S03n  to  be  virtually  erected  into  a  basis  of 
civil  government  became  apparent,  when,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  company  in  London,  it  was  resolved  to  transfer  the 
charter  to  the  freemen  of  the  company  inhabiting  the 
colony.     By  this  act  a  powerful  stimulus  was  given  to  the 
scheme  of  colonization.     Large  numbers  prepared  to  cross 
the  sea.     A  meeting  of  the  company  was  held  to  transfer     ^^*" 
the  government  to  America,  by  appointing  an  entire  board 
of  officers  who  would  agree  to  emigrate.     John  Winthrop    ^ 
was  chosen  governor.     In  the  month  of  March  following,  ( 
the  great  expedition,  consisting  of  about  eight  hundred  V  6  3  0 
souls,  embarked  in  eleven  ships  at  Yarmouth,  and  reached   ) 
their  destination  in  June  and  July.    Nearly  as  many  more/ 
followed  in  the  course  of  the  year.     The  settlement  of\^ 
Boston  and  the  final  establishment  of  .the  colony  of  Mas-  I 
sachu setts  Bay  date  from  this  period.  ^ 

Although    the    terms  of   the  patent,   and  the  royal 
intent  in  granting   it,    point  only  to  a  commercial   ad- 


10  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   venture,    yet   the    circumstances  wliicli   determined   the 
,^,.^1,^  emigration,  the  documentary  proofs  in  relation  to  it,  and 
163  0.  the  character  and  subsequent  conduct  of  the  men,  furnish 
sufficient   evidence  that  a  large  portion  of  them  were  ac- 
j  tuated  by  other  motives  than  pecuniary  gain.      What 
/  were   these    motives  ?     Certainly  not  those    assigned  to 
them  by  Charles  I.,  "  the  freedom  of  liberty  of  conscience  ;'' 
for  scarcely  had  the  royal  charter  been  obtained,  and  the 
church  under  Higginson  established  itself  in  Salem,  wTiile 
the  government  had  not  yet  been  transferred  to  America, 
or  the  settlement  of  Boston  commenced,  before  the  per- 
manent policy  of  the  Puritans  was  developed  in  active 
hostility  to  dissenters.     Two  men  named  Browne,  occu- 
pying influential  positions  in  the  colony,  were  foremost  in 
opposition  to  the  new  church  organization,  and  strenuously 
demanded  that  the  English  liturgy  should  not  be  aban- 
doned.    Thus  the  enemy  from  which  they  had  fled  ap- 
peared at  once  among   them.      E[)iscopacy  asserted  its 
rights  in  the  stronghold  of  the  Puritans.     But  should  the 
exultant  hierarchy,  which  had  driven  them  across  the  sea, 
be  allowed  to  dictate  to  them  in   their  new-found  homes, 
and  perhaps  in  time  expel  them  from  their  "  New  English 
Canaan  ?  "    The  colonists  thought  not,  and  availing  them- 
selves of  a  clause  in  the  form'  of  government  prescribed 
by  the  company  under  their  charter,  which  permitted  the 
expulsion  of   "  incorrigible  persons, "  the  two    Brownes 
were  summarily  sent  back  to  England,  by  order  of  Endi- 
cott,  in  the  very  ships  which   had  brought  them  over. 
/  Thus  early  was  dissent    rebuked,   and    theological   con- 
/  tumacy  punished,  before  the  Puritan  church  itself  was 
^    tairly  established  in  Massachusetts.     "The    freedom   of 
liberty  of  conscif^nce  "  then  formed  no  part  of  the  Puritan 
polity  in  its  inception,  nor  yet,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
in  its  completion.     The  Puritans  fled  from  England  be- 
cause they  could  not  conform  to  the  usages  of  the  estab- 

»  1629,  April  30.— Young's  Chrons.  Mass.,  196, 


THE    PURITANS.  li 

lislied  church,  because  they  desired  a  still  further  exten-  chap. 
sion  of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  because  they  .^..^^ 
would  not  assent  to  those  forms  of  church  service  attempted  16  3  0. 
to  be  enforced  by  the  celebrated  act  of  uniformity.  Differ- 
ing widely  on  these  points  from  the  government  creed, 
they  looked  for  a  home  in  the  new  world,  where  they  might 
erect  an  establishment  in  accordance  with  their  peculiar 
theological  views.  "  They  sought  a  faith's  pure  shrine," 
based  on  what  they  held  to  be  a  purer  system  of  worship, 
and  a  discipline  more  in  unison  with  their  notions  of  a 
church.  For  this  they  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  obtained 
a  home,  where  the  Pilgrims  had  preceded  them,  on  the 
dreary  coast  of  New  England.  Here  they  proceeded  to 
organize  a  State,  whose  civil  code  followed  close  on  the 
track  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  whose  ecclesiastical  polity, 
like  that  of  the  Jews,  and  of  all  those  then  existing,  was 
identified  with  the  civil  power.  They  thus  secured  what 
was  denied  them  in  England,  the  right  to  pursue  their 
own  form  of  religion  without  molestation,  and  in  this  the 
object  of  their  exile  was  attained.  The  hardships  of  the 
infant  colony  are  evinced  in  the  fearful  havoc  which  death 
and  desertion  made  in  their  ranks.  More  than  one  hun- 
dred, discouraged  at  the  prospect  which  pestilence  and 
famine  presented,  abandoned  the  enterprise,  and  returned 
immediately  to  England,  while  of  those  who  remained, 
double  that  number,  before  the  close  of  the  year,  had 
fallen  victims  to  disease.  So  great  was  the  decrease  from 
these  causes,  and  so  disheartening  the  effect  produced  in 
England  by  the  report  of  those  who  returned,  that  the 
accessions  by  emigration  for  the  next  two  years  were  not 
sufficient  to  make  up  the  losses.  A  similar  series  of  dis- 
asters had  occurred  to  the  Pilgrims  in  comuicncing  their 
settlement.  Sickness  and  starvation  had  reduced  their 
!  numbers  one-half  within  a  few  months,  and  the  additions 
were  at  no  time  so  considerable  as  those  which  the  sister 
colony  afterwards  received.     Ten  years  of  hardship  and 


12  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   suffering    elapsed   before   the   great    emigration    of    the 
v^-^  Puritans,  and  at  that  time  the  Plymouth  colony  contained 
16  3  0.  Qjjjy.  ^i^i-ge   hundred    persons.     Such   were    some    of  the 
difficulties  encountered  by  the  early  settlers  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

The  government  of  Plymouth  was  for  many  years  a  pure 
16  2  0.  democracy.  In  the  cabin  of  the,  Mayflower  the  first  solemn 
^"^-  compact  in  the  history  of  America,  creating  a  body  politic 
by  voluntary  act  of  the  signers,  was  subscribed.  Upon 
this  ^rief  but  pompr<^hensive  constitution  r^sts  the  whole 
fabric  of  American  republicanism.'  The  right  to  frame 
laws,  and  the  duty  of  obeying  them,  were  here  simulta- 
neously declared  by  the  free  act  of  the  whole  people.  ^As 
the_Pilgrims  were  mor^  liborRl  tnwarHs  those  who  differed 
from  them  in  ^points  oj  religious  daciriao  than  -tfae-Pu- 
ritans,  so  were  they  more  free  in  their  political  constitu- 
tion.  There  were  good  reasons  for  this  difference.  In 
the  first  place,  the  principles  of  the  early  Separatists, 
although  falling  far  short  of  the  full  idea  of  liberty  of 
conscience,  were  much  more  liberal  than  were  those  of 
either  of  the  two  parties  into  which  the  Puritans  were 
divided  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  They  were  upon  the 
right  line  of  action,  without  having  yet  attained  the  ulti- 
mate result  of  their  movement,  or  having  traced  back  to 
its  source,  in  the  philosophy  of  mind,  the  secret  impulse 

'  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.     We,  whose  names   are  underwritten,  the 
I  loyal   subjects  of  our  dread   sovereign  lord,  King  Jantes,  &c.,  having  under- 

taken, for  the  glory  of  God,  and  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith  and  honor 
of  our  King  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  of  one  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a 
civil  body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of 
the  ends  aforesaid ;  and  by  virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  such 
just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices,  from  time  to 
time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the  general  good  of 
the  colony  ;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and  obedience.  In 
witness  whereof,  &c. — Bradford's  ^  Wiiislow't  Journal,  MourCs  Belatioti. 
Young's  Chrom.  of  Pilyrims,  p.  121. 


THE    PILGRIM    FATHERS.  13 

which  urged  them  onward.  Their  conceptions  of  the 
greatfftruth  which  they  were  unconsciously  developing  were 
but  vague  and  uncertain,  but  their  course  seems  to  have  16  2  0. 
been  guided  in  no  small  degree  by  its  dawning  light. 
Their  venerable  teacher.  Robinson,  in  his  final  sermon, 
before  their  departure  from  Leyden,  had  given  them  a  July 
solemn  charge,  which  seemed  to  foreshadow  the  new  reve- 
lation that  was  to  spring  from  the  oracles  of  God.  "  I 
charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that  you 
follow  me  no  farther  than  you  have  seen  me  follow  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  God  reveal  any  thing  to  you,  by 
any  other  instrument  of  his,  be  as  ready  to  receive  it  as 
ever  you  were  to  receive  any  truth  by  my  ministry ;  for  I 
am  verily  persuaded,  I  am  very  confident,  that  the  Lord 
has  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  his  holy  word." ' 
The  contrast  to  the  bigotry  of  England  which  this  liberal 
and  Christian  advice  presents,  is  a  proof,  how  far  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age  was  this  learned  and  pious  pastor  of  the 
Pilgrims.  Had  Robinson  been  able  to  accompany  the 
emigrants  to  America,  the  future  apostle  of  religious  free- 
dom would  have  found  in  him  a  sympathizing  friend.  The 
result  of  his  teaching  is  seen  in  the  milder  treatment  of 
those  who  differed  from  them,  which  the  records  of  Ply- 
mouth present  when  compared  with  those  of  Massachu- 
setts. The  spirit  of  Robinson  appeared  to  watch  over  his 
feeble  flock  on  the  coast  of  New  England,  long  after  his 
body  was  mouldering  beneath  the  cathedral  church  at  Ley- 
den. Again,  their  twelve  years'  residence  in  Holland  had 
brought  the  Pilgrims  in  contact  with  other  sects  of  Chris- 
tians, and  given  them  a  more  catholic  sj)irit  than  per-  ^ 
tained  to  those  whose  stay  in  England  had  been  embittered 
by  the  strife  of  contending  factions  in  the  established 
church.  Whether  these  reasons  fully  account  for  the 
superior  liberality  of  the  Plymouth  Colonists,  or  not,  the 
records  show,  that  as  they  were  distinct  from  the  Puritans 

'  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  29,  note. 


14  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  in  England,  and  had  been  long  separated  from  them  in  Hol- 
land, so  did  they  preserve  that  distinction  in  some  nJiasure 
in  America,    The  Pilcrrims  of  Plymnnth  were  more  liberal 
in_jeeling,  and  more  tolerant   injractice,  than  the  Puri- 
tans  of  Massachusftt"  P«y      The  simple  forms  of  demo- 
cratic   government    were    maintained   in    Plymouth  for 
eighteen  years,  until  the  growth  of  the  colony  compelled- 
the  introduction  of  the  representative  system.     The  laws 
were  enacted  by  the  entire  people,  and  theif  execution 
intrusted  to  a  governor,  and  council  of  five  assistants, 
afterwards  increased  to  seven. 
^-,      The  government  of  Massachusetts  was  much  more 
I    restrictive,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  colony  compelled 
I     more  frequent  changes  in  its  forms  than  was  the  case  with 
1 6  2  9\  Plymouth.     The  royal   charter,  with  the  plan  of  govern- 
■^P"^  /  ii^^^t  adopted  under  it,  by  the   company  in  which  John 
Endicott  was  named  as  governor,  had  formed  the  fun- 


damental law,  until  the  corporation  itself  emigrated  the 
next  year  to  America,  with  Winthrop  at  its  head.  A  new 
organization  under  the  king's  patent  now  took  place.     By 

\ this  patent,  a  governor,  deputy-governor,  and  eighteen  as- 
sistants were  to  be  elected  annually  by  a  majority  of  the 
Aug.  freemen  of  the  company.'  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Win- 
throp,  the  first  Court  of  Assistants  was  held  at  Charles- 
town.  Tho.  proceedings  of  that  court  were  singularly  in- 
dicative of  the  future  policy  of  the  colony.  The  first 
measure  proposed  was  "  how  the  ministers  shall  be  main- 
tained."^ This  question,  so  honorable  to  the  colonists, 
who,  amid  the  hardships  of  an  infant  settlement,  made 
the  support  of  the  clergy  their  earliest  care,  would  prove, 
if  other  evidence  were  wanting,  that  the  religious  senti- 
ment was  the  most  active  cause  of  Puritan  emigration  ; 
and  it  might  further  serve  as  a  premonition  to  all  those 
whose  creed  was   heterodox,  or  whose   conduct   was  at 

» 1  Holmes's  Annals,  195.  «  1  Prince,  246. 


MORTON  OF  MERRY  MOUNT.  15 

variance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  that  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony  v?-as  no  home  for  them.  And,  as  if  to 
confirm  tlie  latter  position  heyond  mistake,  the  second 
measure  of  the  court  was  to  order,  "  that  Morton  of  Mt. 
WoUaston  be  sent  for  presently."  Thomas  Morton  was 
one  of  a  company  under  Capt.  Wollaston,  who,  some 
years  before,  had  settled  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Quincy.  Wollaston,  on  his  return  to  England,  left  the  16  25. 
place  in  charge  of  one  of  his  companions,  who  was  dis- 
placed by  the  intrigues  of  Morton,  and  the  establishment 
under  the  new  name  of  Merry  Mount,  became  a  scene  of 
riot  and  dissipation,  to  the  infinite  annoyance  of  the  neigh- 
boring settlements.  The  colonists  had  once  equipped  16  28. 
Miles  Standish  with  an  armed  force  to  abate  this  nuisance, 
and  having  captured  Morton,  sent  him  to  England  as  a 
prisoner,  with  charges  against' him  to  be  disposed  of  as  the 
company  there  might  see  fit.  He  found  means  to  return  the  16  2  9. 
next  year,  and  renewed  the  orgies  of  Merry  Mount,  until 
the  summary  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Assistants  broke 
up  this  resort  of  idlers.'  This  was  a  step  for  which  no  one  1630. 
can  censure  the  court.  The  dissolute  character  of  Morton 
and  his  crew  rendered  their  expulsion  necessary  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  colony,  w^hile  the  fact  of  their  supplying  the  In- 
dians with  firearms  merited  the  severest  punishment.  But 
it  is  the  promptness  of  the  government  in  taking  action 
upon  the  case,  which  is  chiefly  worthy  of  note.  _Scai:aely 
had  they  landed  in  New  England,  before  they  provide,  first 
forthe  support  of  the  miuistrv.  and  second  for  the  purifi- 
cation of  society.  The  only  other  measure  of  the  court 
at  this  session  related  to  the  price  of  labor.  However 
much  we  may  approve  of  their  action  in  the  two  preceding 

'  Morton's  house  was  burnt  by  order  of  the  Court  at  their  next  session, 
Sept.  7  (1  Prince,  248),  and  himself  imprisoned  until  sent  for  the  second  time 
to  England,  whence  he  again  returned  in  1643,  and  finally  died  at  Piscataqua. 
For  particulars  concerning  tliis  notorious  "  old  roysterer,''  see  Morton's  New 
England's  Memorial,  135-142,  with  the  Editor's  note;  also  1  Mass.  Hist.  ColL 
iii.   61-64.     His  own  account  of  himself  in  his  book  entitled  New  English 


16  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


1630. 


matters,  this  certainly  was  ill-advised,  and  as  the  event 
proved,,  injurious.  Mechanics'  wages  were  fixed  at  two 
shillings  a  day,  and  a  fine  of  ten  shillings  was  decreed 
against  giver  and  taker  for  any  excess  ahove  this  rate.  The 
experiment  of  arbitrary  values,  whether  placed  upon  lahor, 
or  affixed  to  things  intrinsically  worthless,  has  been  often 
tried  with  ruinous  results,  and  the  attempt  in  this  case 
displayed  a  disposition  to  excessive  legislation,  incompat- 
ible with  the  real  interests  of  society."  -' 
Oct.  The  first  General  Court,  composed  of  all  the  freemen  of 
the  colony,  was  held  in  the  autumn.  The  spirit  of  tin's 
assembly  was  liberal  and  yielding.  Over  one  hundred  per- 
sons were  admitted  freemen  of  the  company,  many  of  whom 
were  not  connected  with  any  of  the  churches.'^  Among  tlie 
applicants  for  freedom  was  William  Blackstone,  the  earliest 
settler  of  Boston,  having  resided  there  four  or  five  years 
previous  to  the  arrival  of  Winthrop,  and  the  same  who  after- 
wards removed  to  what  is  now  the  town  of  Cumberland, 
being  unable  to  brook  "  the  tyranny  of  the  Lord— Brethren  " 
at  the  Bay.3  The  influence  of  the  governor  and  assistants 
and  the  disposition  of  the  people  to  repose  confidence  in 
their  authority,  led  the  Court  to  order  that  for  the  future 
the  freemen  should  choose  the  assistants  only,  and  that 
these  should  select  the  governor  and  deputy  from  among 
themselves,  and  should  also  make  laws  and  appoint  oflicers.^ 

Canaan,  by  Thos.  Morton,  Amsterdam,  1637,  4to.,  191  pp.,  a  copy  of  which  I 
h&ve  read  in  the  British  Museum,  does  not  display  his  character  much  more 
favorably  than  does  the  indignant  secretary  of  the  court  of  N.  Plymouth  in 
the  pages  above  referred  to. 

■  These  absurd  regulations  were  several  times  repealed  and  re-enacted,  and 
were  the  occasion  of  much  trouble  in  Massachusetts,  frequently  requiring  the 
interposition  of  tie  courts  to  adjust  variations  in  the  price  of  labor  bet\s'een 
different  towns  -1  Savage's  Winthrop,'  31,  note.  This  was  not  the  only  sub- 
ject upon  wlii.'..  the  rulers  of  the  Bay  abused  their  legislative  prerogative. 

'  1  Hutchinson's  Mnss.,  26. 

'  1  Savage's  Winthrop,  63,  note  (1853).  He  was  admitted  at  the  next 
Court,  May  18,  1631. 

*  Prince's  Annals  (1826),  320. 


163  1 


THE    RELIGIOUS    TEST    ACT.  IT 

This  was  a  wide  departure  from  the  terms  of  the  charter, 
and  a  concession  of  power  which,  however  safely  reposed  in 
this  case,  furnished  a  dangerous  precedent  for  the  future. 
At  the  next  G-eneral  Court,  being  the  first  court  of  election 
in  Massachusetts,  this  power  was  wisely  restricted  by  the 
people,  who  r^assumed  the  right  to  choose  their  own  offi- 
cers, and  although  they  did  not  at  this  time  expressly  limit 
the  term  of  office  to  one  year,  they  established  their  right 
to  make  such  annual  changes  in  the  board  as  the  majority 
might  wish.  Thus  they  partially  rescinded  the  act  of  the  pre- 
vious Court  by  which  they  had  yielded  too  much.  It  would 
have  been  well  if  they  had  stopped  at  this  point,  and  not 
made  the  legislation  of  the  two  Courts  present  a  still  further 
contrast,  by  an  order  which  entirely  reversed  the  liberality 
of  the  former  in  admitting  freemen  without  a  religious  test. 
This  measure,  which  was  to  be.  the  exciting  cause  of  future 
troubles,  and  the  means  of  calling  into  existence  a  new 
State  based  upon  principles  as  yet  untried,  was  considered 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  purity  in  the  community. 
"  To  the  end  the  body  of  the  commons  may  be  preserved 
of  honest  and  good  men,  it  was  ordered  and  agreed,  that 
for  the  time  to  come,  no  man  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
freedom  of  this  body  politic,  but  such  as  are  members  of 
some  of  the  churches  within  the  limits  of  the  same."' 
This  extraordinary  law  continued  in  force  until  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  government,^  and  the  spirit  of  intolerance  which 
it  necessarily,  if  not  intentionally  fostered,  survived  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  was  displayed  in  the  conduct 
of  the  rulers,  long  after  the  odious  enactment  was  ex- 
punged from  the  statute   book.     The  apologists  of  this 


'  Prince's  Annals  (1826),  354. 

*  It  was  nominally  repealed  in  1665  (1  Holmes's  Annals,  210,  note),  but  its 
leatures  were  essentially  retained,  by  substituting  for  church  membership  a 
minister's  certificate  that  the  candidate  for  freedom  was  of  orthodox  princi- 
ples, and  of  good  life  and  conversation.     1  Hutchinson's  Mass.,  26,  and  note, 

p.  2ai. 

VOL    I — 2 


IG31. 


18  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISI4ANP. 

^^^^-  law  have  excused  its  existence  on  the  ground  of  dangers, 
which  were  feared  from  the  hostihty  of  the  prelatical 
I)arty  in  England,  requiring  a  strong  bond  of  union,  and 
the  incitement  of  religiaus  zeal  in  those  to  whom  was  in- 
trusted the  exercise  of  political  power.  They  overlook  or 
conceal  the  facts  that  the  requisites  for  church 'member- 
ship in  Massachusetts  were  far  more  strict  tban  in  Eng- 
land,  and  that  it  was  a  greater  grievance  to~Be~deprived  of 

civilliberties  for  thje  mnsp  in  NpW  F.ncylnrxT  fhsin  in  CM  • 

and  again,  the  direct  ejffect  of  such  a  law  must  be  to  incul- 
cate hypocrisy,  since  no  rectitude  of  conduct  could  procure 
the  immunities, which  were  the  reward  of  profession  only,  so 
that  if  any  one  did  not  feel  himself  to  be  at  heart  a  Chris- 
tian, and  so  conld  not  conscientiously  unite  with  a  church, 
he  must  submit  either  to  dissemble  or  be  disfranchised.  At 
this  day  it  appears  strange  that  men,  who  in  so  many  re- 
spects showed  that  they  were  wise  and  good,  should  not 
have  seen  and  shunned  the  consequences  of  such  a  law. 
It  would  seem  as  if  they  believed  that  the  act  of  legisla- 
tion was  omnipotent,' having  in  itself  an  efficacy  to  change 
the  heart  of  man,  and  to  reverse  the  [)rinciples  of  human  na- 
ture. How,  otherwise,  could  they  sanction  a  statute  which 
placed  a  premium  upon  deception,  and  which  required  a 
sjiiritual  change,  such  as  they  held  could  only  be  effected 
by  divine  grace,  as  a  prelude  to  the  exercise  of  civil  rights, 
while,  as  the  evidence  of  this  change,  they  could  require 
only  the  assurance  of  the  applicant,  accomi)anied  by  such 
proofs,  in  outward  conduct,  of  his  sincerity  as  might  suffice  to 
satisfy  public  opinion  ?  The  external  conditions  of  citizen- 
ship were  too  easy,  and  its  advantages  too  great,  to  be 
overlooked  by  those  whose  lives  were  governed  by  any 
other  motives  than  those  of  c/mscience.  The  terms  of  the 
law  are  such  as  to  defeat  its  avowed  object.  To  preserve 
men  "  honest  and  good,"  we  should  avoid  tlie  occasion  of 
evil,  and  not  offer  an  inducement  to  practise  it  under  the 
cloak  of  sanctity.      The  spirit  of  this  law  is  one  which 


ARRIVAL    OF    ROGER    WILLIAMS.  19 


1631. 


would  blot  out  from  the  great  canon  of  petition,  "  lead  us 
not  into  temptation,"  to  substitute  for  the  teachingsof  Infi- 
nite Wisdom  the  devices  of  man's  invention,  which  would 
expose  frail  humanity  to  a  j)owerful  allurement  under  the 
name  of  a  sanctifying  trial,  and  expect  it  to  emerge  un- 
scathed, or  even  strengthened,  from  the  dangerous  ordeal. 
The  operation  of  the  law  could  not  fail  to  introduce  into 
the  body  politic  elements  the  very  opposite  to  what  was 
intended,  and  to  assimilate  the  institutions  of  the  State 
to  those  from  which  they  had  fled,  by  making  still  more 
close,  in  Massachusetts  than  ever  it  had  been  in  England, 
the  union  of  civil  with  ecclesiastical  power.  To  establish 
a  tyranny  of  the  church,  to  cherish  a  feeling  of  intolerance, 
and  to  foster  a  spirit  of  dissimulation,  were  the  inevitable 
results  of  this  baleful  statute.  To  infuse  discontent  into 
the  minds  of  many,  and  thus  to  involve  the  State  in  con- 
tinual difficulty,  was  its  legitimate  and  immediate  effect. 
It  was  the  first  direct  legislative  exposition  of  the  feeling 
of  the  colonists  towards  those  who  differed  from  them  in 
religious  opinions,  however  blameless  might  be  their  lives. 
It  foreshadowed  a  similar  fate  to  others,  under  the  sanction 
of  law,  which  had  already  been  visited  upon  the  Brownes, 
by  order  of  Endicott,  under  a  construction  of  the  charter. 
Nor  was  it  many  years  before  the  emigration  of  some  pro- 
minent citizens,  and  the  open  opposition  of  others,  dis- 
played the  light  in  which  independent  men  viewed  the 
infringement  upon  freedom  of  thought  and  action  of  which 
this  statute  was  the  harbinger. 

A  few  weeks  j)revifluSr  to  the  meeting  of  this  G-ene- 
ral   Court,  tM'  ship    LymT^^ve(j_3t  Napt^°^'^^-j    with     Feb, 
twenty  passengers  and  a  Targe  store   of  provisions.     Her      ^' 
arrival  was  most  timely,  for  the  colonists  were  reduced  to 
the  last  exigencies  of  famine.     Many  had  already  died  of 
want,  and  many  more  were  rescued  from  imminent  peril 
by  this  providential  occurrence.      A  public  fast  had  been      9, 
appointed  for  the  day  succeeding  that  on  which  the  ship 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 


1631. 


reached  Boston.  It  was  changed  to  a  general  thanksgiv- 
ing. There^vas  another  incident  connected  with  the  arri- 
val  of  this  ship,  which  madeiF~an  era,  not  only  in  the 
affairs  of  Massachusetts,  but  in  the  history  of  America. 
Shebrought  to  the  shores  of  New  England.'  the  ^tinder  of^ 
a  new  State,  the  exponent  of  a  new  philosoplis:^  the  intel- 
lect that  was  to  harmonize  religious  differences,  q,nd  spot  he 
thesectaiian  asperities  of  the  New  "World;  a  man  whose 
clearness  of  mind  enabled  him  to  deduce^Jioitti^ie  mass  of 


crude  speculations  which  abounded  in  the  17th  century, 
^'propOf^iLiun  so  comprehensive,  that  it  fs  difficult  to  say 
whether  its  application  has  produced  the  most  beneficial 
influence  upon  religion,  or  morals,  or  politics.  This  man 
j^^-wjTs^Koger  W iIlTani5,-~ihen  about  thirty-two  years  of  age.' 
lie  wa^a  scholai,  "Well  versed  in  the  ancient  and  some  of 
the  modern  tongues,  an  earnest  inquirer  after  truth,  and 
an  ardent  friend  of  popular  liberty  as  well  for  the  mind 
as  for  the  body!  As  "  a  godly  minister,"  he  was  welcomed 
to  the  society  of  the  Puritans,  and  soon  invited  by  the 
church  in  Salem  to  supply  the  place  of  the  lamented  Hig- 
ginson,  as  an  assistant  to  their  pastor  Samuel  Skel'ton. 
The  invitation  was  accepted,  but  the  terra  of  his  ministry 
was  destined  to  be  brief.  The  authorities  at  Boston  re- 
monstrated with  those  at  Salem  against  the  reception' 
of  Williams.  The  Court  at  its  next  session  addressed  a 
April    letter  to  Mr.  Endicott  to  this    effect  :     "  That  whereas 

12 

Mr.  Williams  had  refused  to  join  with  the  congregation  at 

'  See  Appendix  A  for  research  into  his  early  life.  A  Rhode  Islander  may 
be  permitted  to  notice  the  coincidence  of  a  general  thanksgiving  day  "  by  or- 
der from  the  Governor  and  Council,  directed  to  all  the  plantations,"  to  cele- 
brate the  arrival  of  the  ship  which  brought  the  founder  of  his  State  to  the 
shores  of  the  New  World.  With  the  exception  of  the  thanksgiving  held  July 
8,  upon  the  arrival  of  '•  the  great  emigration  "  by  the  emigrants  themselves, 
this  was  the  first  instance  of  what  has  long  since  become,  by  universal  cus- 
tom, one  of  the  "  institutions  ''  of  these  United  States.  And  happily  for  the 
country,  the  principles  which  emanated  from  the  cabin  of  the  Lyon  have  been 
no  less  widely  diflused  than  has  the  custom  to  which  her  arrival  gave  occa- 
sion. 


WILLIAMS  SETTLED  AT  SALEM.  21 

Boston,  because  they  would  not  make  a  public  declara-  ^^j^^ 
tion  of  their  repentance  for  having  communion  with  the  ^T' — 
churches  of  England,  while  they  lived  there  ;  and,  besidesj 
had  declared  his  opinion  that  the  magistrate  might  not 
])unish  the  breach  of  the  Sabbath,  nor  any  other  offence, 
as  it  was  a  breach  of  the  first  table  ;  therefore,  they  mar- 
velled they  would  choose  him  without  advising  with  the 
council,  and  withal  desiring  him,  that  they  would  forbear 
to  proceed  till  they  had  conferred  about  it." ' 

This  attempt  of  the  magistrates  of  Boston  to  control 
the  election  of  a  church  officer  at  Salem,  met  with  the  re- 
buke it  so  richly  merited.  The  people  were  not  ignorant 
of  the  hostility  their  invitation  had  excited  ;  yet  on  the 
very  day  the  remonstrance  was  written,  they  settled  Wil- 
liams as  their  minister.^  The  ostensible  reasons  for  this 
hostility  are  set  forth  in  the' letter  above  cited.  That 
they  were  to  a  great  extent  the  real  ones  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. The  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  Puritans  sanc- 
tioned this  interference.  Their  church  platform  approved 
it.'  Positive  statute  would  seem  to  require  it.  Never- 
theless, we  cannot  but  think  that,  underlying  all  this,  / 
there  was  a  secret  stimulus  of  ambition  on  the  part  of  the/ 
Boston  Court  to  strengthen  its  authority  over  the  prosper- 
ous and,  in  some  respects,  rival  colony  of  Salem.  Saleml 
was  the  oldest  town  in  what  was  then  Massachusetts,  and 
had  been  the  seat  of  power  under  Gov.  Endicott  until  the 
corporation  emigrated  to  America,  supplanting  his  author- 
ity by  that  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  and  making  Boston  the 
capital  of  New  England.  But  the  advantages  of  Salei 
were  considerable,  and  the  feeling  of  independence  re- 
sulting from  these  circumstances  was  apjjarent.  The  ex- 
pediency of  reducing  the  people  of  Salem  to  more  com- 
plete subjection  to  the  central  power,  could  not  have  been 

•Winthrop,  i.  63.  ^  Bentley's  Hist,  of  Salem,  1,  M.  H.  C.  vi.  246. 

*  Mather's  Magnalia,  B.  v.  ch.  17,  §  9. 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


1  G31. 


An 


overlooked  by  the  Court,  and  accordingly  we  find  them 
speedily  embracing  the  earliest  opportunity  to  assert  that 
power — gently,  at  first,  expressing  wonder  and  requesting 
delay  on  certain  theological  grounds,  but  more  harshly 
afterward  as  we  shall  presently  see.  As  a  political  meas- 
ure this  interference  failed  of  its  object.  The  people  resent- 
ed so  great  a  stretch  of  a,uthority,  and  the  church  disregard-  , 
ed  the  remonstrance.  The  reasons  assigned  by  the  Court', 
we  do  not  propose  here  to  discuss,  yhe  firgt  inyl^^^'T  «_ 
point  in  which  Williams  was  not  alone.'  The  '^  great 
John  Cotton  "  himself  wit.hdrf^w  fp^m  ff'^mmunifn  with  the 
and  persuaded  other  eminent  di- 
t  the  same  course,"'  The  second  reason  re- 
dounds to  the  everlasting  honor  of  Willinms  ns  ^' the  o;jeat, 
tarliest  assertor  of  religions  fri^P(h)7TLl'-  What  could  not 
as  yet  be  accomplished  by  direct  intervention  of  the  Court 
was  effected  in  a  surer  manner.  The  fearlessness  of  Wil- 
liams in  denouncing  the  errors  of  the  times,  and  especially 
the  doctrine  of  the  magistrate's  power  in  religion,  gave 
rise  to  a  system  of  persecution  which,  before  the  close  of 
the  summer,  obliged  him  to  seek  refuge  beyond  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts  in  the  more  liberal  colony  of  the 
i  Pilgrims.' 
At  Plymouth  "  he  was  well  accepted  as  an  assistant 
in  the  ministry  to  Mr.  Ralph  Smith,  then  pastor  of  the 
church  there."^  The  principal  men  of  the  colony  treated  > 
him  with  marked  attention.  Gov.  Bradford,  in  his  Jour- 
nal, speaks  well  of  him,^  and  Gov.  Winthrop,  who  had 
uniformly  opposed  him,  mentions  having  partaken  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  with  him,  in  corai)any  with  Mr.  Wilson, 
pastor  of  the  Boston  church,  when  on  a  visit  at  Plymouth. 
Williams  remained  for  two  years  at    Plymouth.''      The 

*  Magnalia,  B.  iii.  cli.  1,  §  10-18.     *  Mr.  Savape  in  note  2,  Winthrop,  i.  41. 

*  Bentley's  Salem,  1,  M.  H.  C.  vi.  246.         *  Morton's  Memorial,  151. 

*  Prince,  377. 
'  The   weight   of  authority  assigns  this  limit  to  R.  W.'s  residence  at  Ply« 

mouth.      See  citations  in  Knowles.  p.  55,  note. 


THE    NARRAGANSETT    INDIANS.  23 

opportunities  there  presented  for  cultivating  an  intimate   chap. 
acrniaintance  with  the  chief  Sachfiias  of  the  neiffhhorino:  — • — - 

-■  IBS! 

tribes  were  well  improved,  and  exerted  an  important  in- 
fluence, not  only  in  creating  the  State  of  which  he  was  to 
be  the  founder,  but  also  in  protecting  all  NewEngland 
amid  the  horrors  of  savage  warfare. 

Ousamequin,  or  Massasoit,  as  he  is  usually  called,  was 
the  Sadiem  of  the  Wampanoags,  called  also  the  Pokanoket 
tribe,  inliabiting  the  Plymouth  territory.  His  seat  was 
xt  Mount  Hope,  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Bristol,  P.  I. 
With  this  chief,  the  early  and  steadfast  friend  of  the 
English,  Williams  established  a  friendship  which  proved 
of  the  greatest  service  at  the  time  of  his  exile. 

West  of  the  Pokanoket  country,  embracing  the  islands 
in  and  around  Narragansett  bay,  the  eastern  end  of  Long 
[siand,  with  nearly  the  whole  -  mainland  as  far  as  Paw- 
;atuck  river,  was  the  powerful  tribe  of  the  Narragansetts, 
deluding  several  subordinate  tribes,  all  owning  the  sway 
Off  the  sagacious  and  venerable  Canonicus,  with  his  brave 
!rv\ud  generous  nej^hew,  Miantinomo,  as  their  chief  Sachems. 
Tradition  speaks  of  this  tribe  as  a  fierce  and  warlike  race, 
exttuding  their  conquests  from  the  main,  over  all  the 
adjacent  islands,  and  it  still  points  to  the  spot  on  the 
island  of  Rhode  Island,  where  in  a  great  battle,  anterior 
to  the  arrival  of  the  English,  the  former  proprietors  of 
these  I\sautiful  shores  were  vanquished  by  the  valor  of 
their  auRailants.  There  is  a  clause  in  the  Indian  deed  of 
AquidnecV.  to  Wm.  Coddington,  which  appears  to  confirm 
this  tradition.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  at  this  time 
the  schemes  of  the  Narragansetts  for  territorial  aggran- 
dizement had  ceased,  and  their  attention  had  become 
directed  in  some  measure  to  the  arts  of  civilization.  They 
coined  money  in  their  rude  way  from  sea-shells,  and  were 
skilled  in  various  branches  of  Indian  manufacture.  With 
these  Indians,  as  with  Massasoit,  Williams  sought  friend- 
ship, and  by  kindness  and  attention,  making  them  pres- 


24  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

ents  and  visiting  them,  as  his  letters  describe,  "  in  their 
filthy  smoky  holes  to  gain  their  tongue,"  he  overcame  the 
■  shyness  of  the  old  Canonicus  and  won  the  esteem  of  the 
high-spirited  Miantinomo.  It  proved  well  for  himself  and 
for  New  England  that  tliis  intercourse  was  maintained. 

The  generous  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims  preserved  Roger 
Williams  in  a  great  measure  from  the  annoyance  which 
had  caused  his  removal  from  Salem,  and  protected  him 
from   the  offensive  interference  of  the  civil  •'authorities. 
i     Still  his  own  views  were  too  liberal  for  the  times  in  which 
\  he  lived  ;  he  was  misunderstood  by  the  enlightened,  and 
*    misrepresented   by  the  bigoted   who    sympathized    with 
their  brethren  of  the  Bay.     His  attachment  appears  never 
to  have   been  withdrawn  from  the  people  of  Salem,  who 
reciprocated  the  warmth  of  his   regard  and  invited  his 
return.*     So  great  was  the  respect  and  love  entertained 
^„„     for  him  at  Plymouth,  that  it  was  not  without  ditficulty 
16  3  3.  lie  obtained  his  dismissal  from   the  church,  through  the 
influence  of  Brewster,  the  ruling  elder,  who  was  one  of 
those  who  dreaded  the  effect  of  his  opinions.     It  illus- 
trates the  singular  power  which,  through  his  whole  life, 
Roser  Williams  exerted  on  the  minds  of  his  companions, 
whether  savage  or  civilized,  that  several  members  of  the 
Plymouth  church,  unwilling  to  be  separated  from  him, 
desired  their  dismission  at  the  same  time  and  followed  him 
to  Salem. ^     Here  he  again  assisted  Mr.  Skelton,  whose 
health  was  rapidly  failing. 

Now,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bay,  was  resumed 
a  conflict  between  the  despotic  spirit  of  theocracy  and  the 
genius  of  intellectual  liberty,  which  was  to  result  in  the 
temporary  triumph  of  arbitrary  power  over  abstract  light  ; 
which  was  to  call  into  existence  an  independent  State, 
and  finally  to  achieve  the  emancipation  cf  the  human  soul 
from  the  thraldom  of  ])riestly  oi)pression.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  in  most  of  the  points  of  dispute  which 

'  Backus,  i.  56.  "  Morton's  Memorial,  151. 


MISREPRESENTATIONS    CONCERNING   WILLIAMS.  25 

now  arose  Williams  was  not  alone  or  even  foremost  in  the  chap. 

discussion,  while  in  respect  to  some  of  the  most  important  ^_^_; 

encroachments  of  the  Court  upon  the  rights  of  the  people  1  <3  3  3. 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Salem  were  with  him.  His  de- 
tractors have  delighted  to  represent  him  as  if  he  were  the 
only  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  authorities,  the  sole  disturber 
of  fraternal  harmony  in  the  otherwise  happy  family  of  the 
Puritans.  To  fasten  upon  Roger  Williams  the  stigma  of 
factious  opposition  to  government,  as  has  often  been 
attempted,  is  to  belie  history  by  an  effort  to  vindicate 
bigotry  and  tyranny  at  the  expense  of  truth.  It  is  a 
memorable  fact,  which  a  careful  examination  of  the  evi- 
dence presented  by  the  Puritan  writers  themselves  will 
establish,  that  of  the  many  singular  and  bitter  contro- 
versies which  raged  at  this  time,  in  most  of  which  Roger 
Williams  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  and  for  all  of  which  his 
enemies  have  endeavored  to  make  him  solely  responsible, 
only  one  was  initiated  by  him,  save  that  which  has  become 
his  crowning  glory.  The  contentious  spirit  with  which 
he  has  been  charged  was  characteristic  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived,  and  eminently  so  of  the  society  in  which  he 
moved.  Transition  periods  are  necessarily  eras  of  agita- 
tion, more  or  less  prolonged  according  to  the  importance 
of  the  principles  to  be  evolved.  In  this  case  the  Protes- 
tant reformation  had  opened  a  discussion,  in  the  16th 
century,  involving  the  dearest  rights  of  humanity,  which 
had  already  convulsed  all  Europe,  and  was  about  to  sub- 
vert the  ancient  monarchy  of  England.  To  establish  the 
inherent  right  of  private  judgment,  the  free  agency  of  the 
mind  in  spiritual  matters, — this  was  the  grand  result 
towards  which  a  hundred  years  of  toil  and  strife,  in  camp 
and  court,  in  school  and  closet,  were  slowly  tending.  In 
the  controversy  which  directly  led  to  this  result,  Williams 
had  many  ardent  friends  among  his  Puritan  compeers,  the 
more. perhaps  from  his  bearing  only  a  secondary  part  in 
the  subordinate  agitations  which  first  occurred. 


26  HISTORT   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

A  meeting  of  the  ministers,  held  at  each  other's  houses, 
to  debate  "  questions  of  moment,"  inspired  the  cautious 
16  3  3.  mind  of  Skelton  with  fear  lest*  *'  it  might  grow  in  time  to 
a  preshyterv,  or  superintendency,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
church's  liberties."  In  this  feeling  Williams  shared,  but 
remained  passive,  while  Skelton  openly  denounced  the 
frequent  meetings  of  the  clergy."^  They  had  both  seen 
enough  of  priestly  arrogance  in  England  to  dread  its 
appearance  in  America.  Already  had  the  interference  of 
the  Court  at  Boston,  at  the  instigation  of  the  ministers, 
given  warning  of  the  actual  usurpation  from  which  the 
church  at  Salem  was  shortly  to  suffer.  Liberty  is  rarely 
subverted  at  a  single  blow.  Its  foundations  are  sapped  by 
gradual  and  regular  approaches  under  the  guise  of  lawful 
authority,  and  often  in  the  very  name  of  freedom  itself. 
These  manifestations  could  not  escape  the  vigilance  of  the 
Salem  pastors,  or  fail  to  fill  their  minds  with  anxious  fore- 
bodings. The  event  justified  the  anxiety  of  these  watch- 
ful guardians  of  public  liberty,  notwithstanding  the 
remark  of  the  amiable  Winthrop,  who  was  soon  to  feel 
in  his  own  person  the  fickleness  of  popular  favor,  with- 
drawn at  the  dictation  of  the  clergy,  that  "  this  fear  was 
without  cause." 

The  custom  of  women  wearing  veils  in  public  formed 
a  theme  of  pulpit  discussion  at  that  time,  which  has  un- 
justly been  charged  upon  Williams.  The  earnestness  of 
Endicott  and  the  eloquence  of  Cotton  upon  this  topic  are 
recorded  by  contemporary  writers.  It  has  remained  for 
the  ignorance  or  the  ill-will  of  more  recent  times,  to  cast 
upon  Roger  Williams  the  absurdity  of  a  controversy  which 
began  before  his  arrival,^  and  in  which  there  is  no  reliable 
evidence  to  prove  that  he  took  a  prominent  part.* 

'  Winthrop,  i.  117.  "  Bentley's  Salem,  248.  '  Bentley,  245. 

*  Hubbard  is  the  earhest  Puritan  writer  who  connects  the  name  of  Wil- 
liams with  this  ridiculous  controversy.  His  tirade  upon  Roger  Williams, 
chiip.  30,  General  History  of  New  England,  is  the  source  whence  most  of  the 
abuse  of  the   Founder  of  Rhode   Island  is  derived,  wherein   he  is  closely  fol- 


PROCEEDINGS    AGAINST    WILLIAMS.  27 

More  serious  difficulties  soon  arose.     During  Williauis'   chap. 

residence  at  Plymouth,  he  had  written  a  treatise  upon   ^ 

the  royal  patent,  under  which  the  Massachusetts  colony  16  3  3. 
held  their  lands,  wherein  he  maintained  that  the  planters 
could  have  no  just  title  except  what  they  derived  from 
the  Indians  The  Court,  as  usual,  took  advice  of  the 
ministers,  *'  who  much  condemned  Mr.  Williams'  error 
and  presumption,  and  were  greatly  offended  at  these 
three  passages  :  "  1.  For  that  he  chargeth  King  James  to 
have  told  a  solemn  jjublic  lie,  because  in  his  patent  he 
blesses  God  that  he  was  the  first  Christian  prince  that 
had  discovered  this  land  :  2.  For  that  he  chargeth  him  and 
others  with  blasphemy  for  calling  Europe  Christendom,  or 
the  Christian  world  :  3.  For  that  he  did  personally  apply 
to  our  present  King,  Charles,  these  three  places  in  the  Re- 
velation, viz."'  As  to  the  first  point,  we  are  at  loss  to 
discover  any  very  strong  grounds  for  clerical  indignation. 
If  it  was  "presumption"  in  Williams  to  deny  to  the  reigning 
family  the  honor  of  discovery,  it  certainly  was  not  an 
error.  To  the  Tudors,  and  not  to  the  Stuarts,  that 
honor  belongs.  It  was  under  the  auspices  of  Henry  VII., 
more  than  a  century  before  James  I.  ascended  the  throne, 
that  New  England  was  discovered.'^     Politically  Williams 

lowed  by  Cotton  Mather  a  few  years  later.  Other  portions  of  his  history  are 
equally  unreliable  ;  in  fact,  nowhere  is  he  to  be  trusted  as  an  original  author- 
ity. His  prejudices  color  his  whole  narrative.  His  plagiarisms  and  his  care- 
lessness are  sufficiently  exposed  by  the  diligent  editor  of  Winthrop,  in  an  am- 
ple note  on  p.  296,  vol.  i.,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

'  Mr,  Savage's  note  at  this  place  should  be  cited  :  "  Perhaps  the  same 
expressions,  by  another,  would  have  given  less  offence.  From  Williams  they 
were  not  at  first  received  in  the  mildest,  or  even  the  most  natural  sense  ; 
though  further  reflection  satisfied  the  magistrates,  that  his  were  not  danger- 
ous. The  passages  from  the  Apocalypse  were  probably  not  applied  to  the 
honor  of  the  King,  and  I  regret,  therefore,  that  Winthrop  did  not  preserve 
th^m:'—l\inihrop,  i.  102.  In  his  2d  edition,  p.  145,  Mr.  S.  adds  :  "No  com- 
plaint of  such  indiscretion  would  have  been  expressed  ten  years  later,  when 
the  mother  country  far  outran  the  colony  in  these  perversions  of  Scripture." 

'  The  author  does  not  propose  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  Ante-Colum- 
bid.1  discoverv   of  America.     If  the   claim  of  the  Danish  writers  for  their 


28  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   njay  have  been  presumptuous  ;  historically  he  was  correct 
,^_;,^  in  this  first  charge.     That  the  second   point  should  have 
16  3  3.  given  oflfence,  displays  more  earnestness  to  preserve  the 
royal  favor  than  zeal  in  the  cause  which  they  considered  to 
be  the  only  true  one.     Men  who  had  rejicatcdly  denied  the 
Christianity  of  Europe,  need  not  so  suddenly  have  become 
indignant  that  one  of  their  number  should  write  what  all 
of  them  spoke  and  believed.    This  spasmodic  loyalty  may  be 
attributed  to  a  fear  lest  the  influence  of  Laud,"'Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  should  so  far  prevail  with  the  Crown  as  to 
lead  to  a  repeal  of  the  New  England  patent.  The  solicitude 
for  the  honor  of  the  king,  manifested  in  .the  third  stated 
ground  of  offence,  furnishes  an  amusing  contrast  to  the 
conduct  of  the  same  reverend  legislators  a  few  years  later. 
The  arbitrary  action  of  the  Court,  in  calling  for  a   paper 
Dec.    written  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  "  for  the 
private  satisfaction  of  the  Governor  of  Plymouth,"  and 
which  had  never  been  published,  would  have  been  properly 
resented  by  refusing  to  obey  the  summons.     None  of  his 
persecutors  in  those  days,  or  of  his  detractors  in  later  times, 
ever   displayed    a  more    Christian,  or  less  "contentious 
y  spirit,"  than  did  Williams  on  this  occasion.     He  "  offered 
the  book,  or  any  part  of  it,  to  be  burnt,  and  gave  satisfac- 
tion of  his  intention  and  loyalty."     On  a  further  examina- 
1G33-4.  tion  of  the  offensive  passages  by  the  council,  "  they  found 
24.'     the  matters  not  to  be  so  evil  as  at  first  they  seemed."    Thus 
the  subject  rested  for  a  few  months  until  it  was  found  con- 
venient again  to  call  it  up. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Skelton,  the.  church  ordained 
Roger  Williams  as  their  pastor,  although  the  Court  a  sec- 

northem  progenitors  were  fully  established,  identifying  New  England,  and  es- 
pecially Rhode  Island,  with  the  Vineland  of  Icelandic  explorers,  it  would 
have  no  hearing  npon  the  New  England  of  our  day  ;  while  iu  the  present 
state  of  the  subject  it  is  more  a  matter  for  arclia;ological  investigation  than  of 
historical  research.  For  a  view  of  this  point  see  R.  I.  Hist  Coil's,  iv.  Ap.  2, 
and  fur  the  whole  subject,  Prof.  Rufin's  Antiquitates  Ainericause. 


PROCEEDINGS    AGAINST    WILLIAMS.  29 

ond  time  interfered  to  prevent  it.     We  shall  presently  see  chap. 
how  severely  their  corW;umacy  was  punished.  ] 

In  the  autumn  Williams  was  again  summoned  to  ap-  16  3  4. 
pear  at  Court,  for  promulgating  his  views  concerning  the 
patent.  When  we  remember  that  the  practice  of  the  27.' 
Puritans  accorded  precisely  with  the  theory  of  Williams, 
in  respect  to  the  Indian  titles — that  all  the  land  they  oc- 
cupied, except  what  they  found  deserted,  owing  to  the 
pestilence  which  preceded  the  arrival  of  the  Pilgrims,  had 
been  purchased  by  them  of  the  original  proprietors — we 
cannot  discover  in  the  ostensible  reasons  for  this  second 
arrest,  any  sufficient  cause  for  such  treatment.  That  he 
took  what  we  should  consider  a  needless  exception  to  the 
language  of  the  patent  is  apparent.  Perhaps  he  thought 
that  words  are  sometimes  things.  The  sense  of  justice 
which  formed  so  striking  a  feature  of  his  character,  com- 
pelled him  to  deny  the  royal  claim  to  possession  by  right 
of  discovery.  Yet  this  language  was  in  itself  harmless  so 
long  as  it  remained  merely  a  form  of  kingly  phraseology. 
We  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  real  reasons  for 
pursuing  this  matter  are  not  upon  the  record,  and  that 
the  repeated  refusal  of  the  Salem  church  to  permit  the 
interference  of  the  Court  in  their  choice  of  a  teacher  was 
the  principal  cause.  This  opinion  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  after  this  time  we  hear  nothing  further  of  the 
controversy  about  the  partent  ;  more  tangible  and  serious 
causes  of  complaint  being  found  by  the  Court. 

One  other  subordinate  point  remains  to  be  noticed  be- 
fore we  arrive  at  the  immediate  causes  of  the  banishment  ^  g  3  fi 
of  Koger  Williams.  The  conduct  of  Endicott  in  cutting  May. 
out  the  cross  from  the  national  colors,  for  which  singular 
action  he  was  suspended  from  office  for  one  year  by  order 
of  the  Court,  has  been  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  Wil- 
liams, who  has  been  made,  as  in  the  dispute  about  veils, 
the  convenient  author  of  most  of  the  erratic  deeds  and  no- 
tions of  the  times.     The  opposition  to  Popeiy  and  all  its 


30  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

symbols,  which  formed  so  deep  a  feeling  in  the  Puritan 
mind,  was  the  real  cause  of  this  unwarrantable  act  of  the 
16  3  5.  Salem  magistrate.  That  Williams  countenanced  the  act 
is  nowhere  asserted,  unless  such  a  construction  be  given 
to  the  language  of  Hubbard.*  Even  Mather,  who  cannot 
be  suspected  of  any  bias  in  favor  of  Williams,  says  of  this 
proceeding,  "  that  he  was  but  obliquely  and  remotely  con- 
cerned in  it."  '^  How  far  he  may  be  considered  as  morally 
responsible  for  this  application  of  an  abstract  opinion 
which  he  entertained  in  common  with  -his  fellows,  is 
rather  a  question  of  ethics  than  of  history.  The  clear- 
ness with  which  he  discerned  the  dividing  line  between 
civil  and  spiritual  concerns,  in  an  age  when  these  subjects 
had  scarcely  begun  to  attract  public  attention,  forbids  the 
idea  that  he  advised  the  mutilation  of  the  ensigns.  The 
subject  afterwards  assumed  a  much  greater  prominence  ; 
the  Court,  at  first  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  lawfulness 
March  ^f  ^j^g  cross,  at  length  ordered  the  ensigns  to  be  laid  aside 
entirely,  two  months  before  Endicott,   from  motives  of 

May  policy,  was  disgraced  for  defacing  them  ;  and  when  a  year 
^'  later,  at  the  request  of  certain  shipmasters,  these  colors 
were  hoisted  upon  the  castle,  it  was  done  "  with  the  pro- 
testation, that  we  held  the  Cross  in  the  ensign  idolatrous, 
and  therefoi-e  might  not  set  it  up  in  our  own  ensigns." ' 
This  was  subsequent  to  the  banishment  of  Williams,  and 
furnishes  fair  presumptive  evidence  to  acquit  him  of  re- 
sponsibility for  this  singular  transaction. 

A  more  serious  occasion  for  complaint  was  found  in  the 
views  entertained  by  Williams  on  the  nature  of  judicial 

A^l"'!  oaths.  He  was  cited  before  the  council  for  teaching  "that 
a  magistrate  ought  not  to  tender  an  oath  to  an  unro- 
generate  man.'"  It  appears  that  he  considered  taking  an 
oath  to  be  in  itself  an  act  of  worship,  recognizing  as  it 
does  the  existence  and  power  of  a  Supreme  Being,  and 

'  Hubhiirfl,  ch.  80,  p.  20.'i,  in  which  he  is  followed  by  Hutchinson,  1,  38. 
»  Magnnliii,  B.  7,  ch.  2,  §  8.  '  June  16,  1636,  Wiuthrop,  ii.  344. 


THE   freeman's   OATH.  31 

hence,  as  a  direct  result  of  his  views  in  respect  to  liberty  chap. 

of  conscience,  he  denied  the  right  of  any  one  to  enforce  it.   .^ ^ 

There  was  nothing  in  this  proposition  to  excite  alarm,  so  1635, 
long  as  it  did  not  come  in  conflict  with  the  tenets  of  the 
ministers  or  the  desiarns  of  the  macristrates. 

Passages  in  his  writings  indicate  that  he  had  long  en- 
tertained, and  in  some  cases  had  suffered  losses  in  chan- 
cery on  account  of  his  views  on  this  subject,  which  in 
some  respects  resemble  those  held  by  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  for  which,  to  this  day,  they  are  liable  to  pe- 
cuniary damage  by  the  laws  of  England.  Very  soon, 
however,  the  action  of  the  Court,  in  requiring  a  new  oath 
to  be  taken  by  all  the  citizens,  brought  Williams'  abstract 
notions  into  practical  opposition.  Alarmed  at  the  rumors 
of  '"  some  Episcopal  and  malignant  practices  against  the 
country,"  the  Court  decreed  that  an  oath  of  fidehty  to 
the  laws  of  the  colony  should  be  taken  by  all  freemen.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  "  the  freeman's  oath"  had  already 
been  taken  by  all  who  were  admitted  freemen  of  the  colony. 
The  terms  in  which  it  was  expressed,  requiring  obedience 
to  laws  which  should  be  "lawfully"  made  by  the  Court, 
acknowledged  the  charter  as  the  fundamental  law,  and  the 
source  whence  it  was  derived  as  the  sovereign  power.  But 
tills  new  oath  of  fidelity  ignored  the  charter,  and  bound 
the  citizens  to  obey  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  without 
reference  to  their  compatibility  with  the  laws  of  England. 
What  right  had  the  magistrates,  with  their  ever  present 
counsellors,  the  clergy,  to  adopt  this  new  law  ?  There 
were  more  reasons  for  Williams'  earnest  hostility  to  the 
measure  than  his  enemies  saw  fit  to  assign,  ^The  charter, 
fllthrmo-h  o-pnprn1  in  ifti  fnvmti^  -nrnf^  ypf,  ^^  safft  gnidft  in  the 
broad  principles  of  Ipio-isla.tion     No  laws  repugnant  to  those 

JnfnRncrla.Tirl    rnnlrl    hp    pnaofprl     under  it.       It    shielded  the 
^f>1nni-;ffl  frnm   fhp    pnqci'hln    fy^c^T^Tiy  r>f    f^P  k^'"g^   P"d  Ji::2Z. 

tected  them  from  the  more  probable  despotism  of  their  own 
local_magistrat es.    A  friend  of  popular  liberty  might  well 


32  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RLODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  be  alarmed  at  a  movement  designed  to  destroy  the  only 
^^.J.^,  guarantee  of  freedom,  and  whatever  his  abstract  opinions 
16  3  5.  in  regard  to  oaths  may  have  been,  the  illegality  of  the 
measure  was  enough  to  ensure  the  opposition  of  Williams. 
It  appsars  that  he  was  not  alone  in  this  opposition.  So 
many  were  found  to  resist  the  unlawful  attempt,  that  for 
a  time  "the  Court  was  forced  to  desist  from  that  proceed- 
ing." It  was  not  until  the  spirit  of  free  inquiry  was  more 
effectually  checked,  and  submission  com[)elled  b^  the  coer- 
cive policy  of  the  Court,  that  the  act  was  finally  passed, 
and  the  oath  enforced,  under  severe  penalties,  upon  every 
man  over  sixteen  years  of  age. 

While  the  authorities,  and  especially  the  ministers, 
"W'ere  thus  diligent  in  establishing  their  power  over  the 
colonists,  seeking  to  punish  as  seditious  persons  all  those 
who  ventured  to  exercise  their  freedom  by  calling  in  ques- 
tion the  acts  of  the  Legislature,  they  were  aiming  to  ac- 
complish a  virtual  independence  of  the  mother  country. 
At  the  very  time  they  were  arraigning  Williams  as  an 
enemy  to  the  patent,  for  his  too  faithful  defence  of  the 
rights  of  the  Indians,  and  disgracing  Endicott  for  mutilat- 
ing ensigns  which  they  had  already  laid  aside  as  idola- 
trous, they  were  nullifying  their  charter  by  decreeing  an 
oath  of  fidelity  to  themselves,  and  were  preparing  for 
more  overt  acts  of  treason,  should  circumstances  render 
it  expedient.  The  council,  alarmed  by  the  evidence  of 
serious  designs  against  the  colony,  fomented  by  the  high 
church  party  in  England,  convened  the  clergy  to  con- 
sider "  what  ought  to  be  done  if  a  general  governoi 
I'y.'  should  be  sent  out  of  England."  Four  months  prior  to 
this,  unusual  activity  was  displayed  in  completing  the 
fortifications,  when  these  designs  were  first  detected,  and 
the  idea  of  resisvance  to  the  home  government  was  freely 
canvassed  by  the  General  Court.  Thus  early  was  the 
spirit  of  colonial  independence  entertained  by  the  ftxthers 
of  Massachusetts,  while  as  yet  they  were  ignorant  of  the 


POLICY    OF    THE    PURITANS.  33 

leading  principles  of  national  freedom,  and  were  pursuing  chap 
a  policy  fatal  to  the  existence  of  popular  liberty.  That  ^ — ^ 
they  should  conceive  the  idea  of  eventual  separation  from 
the  mother-country  as  an  act  of  necessity,  was  natural 
and  commendable  under  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed  ;  but  that  they  should  at  the  same  time  ar- 
raign Williams  for  a  constructive  hostility  to  the  patent 
they  were  designing  to  supplant,  and  degrade  Endicott 
for  violating  colors  which  they  had  already  disowned,  was 
inconsistent  in  itself,  and  accords  with  the  real  motive 
which  animated  the  dominant  class — to  make  inde- 
pendence of  England  the  means  of  establishing  a  theo- 
cratic despotism  at  home.  The  republican  feeling  with 
which  the  name  of  independence  is  associated  in  our 
minds  was  unknown  to  the  authorities  of  Massachu- 
setts. At  this  time  there  was  no  sympathy  with  the 
spirit  of  progress  in  the  stern  assemblies  of  the  Puri- 
tans. The  all-pervading  element  of  religious  contro- 
versy had  withered  every  generous  sentiment  and  dried 
up  the  fountain  of  Christian  benevolence.  No  respect 
was  felt  for  individual  opinions,  and  no  regard  was 
shown  for  private  rights,  that  conflicted  in  any  degree 
with  the  rules  of  a  coldly  intellectual  system  of  theology. 
The  sanctity  of  domestic  life  was  disturbed  by  the  sur- 
veillance of  the  State.  Even  parents  were  known  to  re- 
port to  the  magistrates  incautious  remarks  made  by  their 
children  in  the  familiar  intercourse  of  home.  Cotton, 
whose  infl.uence  was  paramount  in  the  colony,  preached 
publicly  "  that  a  magistrate  ought  not  to  be  turned  into 
the  condition  of  a  private  man  without  just  cause,"  a  doc- 
trine calculated  to  perpetuate  power  in  the  hands  of  men 
over  whom  the  clergy  already  exercised  unbounded  con- 
trol. The  strong  common  sense  of  the  Puritan  masses  re- 
jected the  dangerous  dogma,  but  was  not  sufficient,  as  yet, 
to  withstand  the  organized  efforts  of  the  magistrates  and 
clergy.     Every  thing  in  the  pohty  of  Massachusetts  was 

VOL.  I — 3 


34  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  made  subservient  to  the  interests  of  the  State,  and  that 
State  was  virtually  and  exclusively  the  Puritan  church. 
No  wonder  that  religious  toleration  and  political  freedom 
were  alike  abhorrent  to  its  rulers,  or  that  the  conscience 
which  could  not  accept  an  oath  designed  to  perpetuate 
despotism  was  treated  as  an  enemy  to  the  State'. 
^  The  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  people  of  Salem 
for  the  alleged  contempt  of  installing  Eoger  Williams, 
contrary  to  the  repeated  remonstrance  of  the  Oourt,  \^a8 
characteristic,  and  illustrates  the  incongruous  mingling 
5fay     of  temporal  and  spiritual  aifairs  which  must  exist  with  a 

^-  church  and  state  establishment.  The  authorities  of  Sa- 
lem petitioned  the  General  Court  for  some  adjacent  land 
which  they  considered  as  belonging  to  their  town.  The 
petition  was  refused,  "  because  they  had  chosen  Mr.  Wil- 
liams as  their  teacher."  This  was  certainly  an  extraor- 
dinary reason  to  assign  for  denying  an  act  of  justice.  The 
Salem  people  so  considered  it,  and  Williams  ma,y  be  par- 
doned for  having  united  with  the  whole  body  of  his  parish- 
ioners in  an  earnest  protest  against  what  they  considered 
to  be  a  flagrant  wrong.  The  church  at  Salem  addressed 
letters  to  the  other  churches  desiring  them  to  remonstrate 
with  the  magistrates  and  deputies  who  were  their  mem- 
bers on  account  of  this  injustice,  and  warning  them  of  the 
danger  to  which  their  liberties  were  exposed.  This  api)eal 
to  the  people  brought,  no  relief  Popular  sentiment  was 
not  so  keenly  alive  to  a  sense  of  violated  right,  or  so  vigi- 
lant in  guarding  the  outposts  of  freedom,  as  it  is  in  our 
July     day.     At  the  next  General  Court  the  deputies  from  Salem 

8.      were  refused  their  seats  until  their  constituents  "  should 
give  satisfaction  about  the  letter."'      Subsequently  Mr. 

1.  *    Eudicott  protested  against  the  action  of  the  Court,  and 

'  Winthrop,  i.  164.  Mr.  Savage  here  justly  remarks,  in  a  note:  "This 
denial,  or  perversion  of  justice,  by  postponement  of  a  hearinji,  on  a  question 
of  temporal  right,  for  some  spiritual  deficiency  in  the  church  or  pastor,  will 
not  permit  us  to  think  that  the  judges  of  Williams  were  free  from  all  blame 
in  producing  his  schism." 


WILLIAMS    SUMMONED    BEFORE    THE    COUET.  35 

justified  the  Salem  letter;  for  which  exercise  of  his  rights  chap. 
as  a  citizen  he  was  committed  by  order  of  the  government       ^• 
until  he  acknowledged  his  fault.     By  such  arbitrary  meas-  16  3  5 
ures,  the  authorities  were  shortly  to  subdue  the  manly  op- 
position of  the  people  of  Salem,  and  to  rule  without  re- 
straint over  their  submissive  subjects. 

At  the  same  Court  which  disfranchised  the  Salem 
deputies,  Roger  Williams  was  summoned  to  answer  8.' 
"for  divers  dangerous  opinions,  viz.  : — 1,  that  the  ma- 
gistrate ought  not  to  punish  the  breach  of  the  first 
table  otherwise  than  in  such  cases  as  did  disturb  the 
civil  peace;  2,  that  he  ought  not  to  tender  an  oath 
to  an  unregenerate  man;  3,  that  a  man  ought  not 
to  pray  with  such,  though  wife,  child,  &c.;  4,  that  a 
man  ought  not  to  give  thanks  after  the  sacrament  nor 
after  meat."  To  what  has  already  been  said  upon  the 
first  two  points,  it  is  only  necessary  to  add,  that  the  con- 
cluding clause  of  the  first  charge  proves  that  Williams' 
views  were  not  opposed  to  civil  magistracy,  as  has  been 
represented,  but  only  to  the  extension  of  authority  over 
subjects  for  which  man  is  alone  amenable  to  his  Maker. 
With  respect  to  the  third  charge,  there  is  nothing  in  Wil- 
liams' writings  to  show  that  he  entertained  the  views 
therein  expressed.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
only  reports  we  have  of  his  opinions,  during  the  ordeal 
through  which  he  was  made  to  pass  while  a  minister  at 
Salem,  are  given  by  his  opponents,  of  whom  Winthrop  is 
the  earliest  writer,  and  the  only  one  who  was  suj^erior  to 
the  influence  of  prejudice.  And  we  know  that  inferences 
from  his  abstract  notions,  drawn  by  those  less  skilful  in  lo- 
gical deduction  than  himself,  have  been  recorded  as  his 
real  opinions,  and  that,  with  equal  recklessness,  he  has 
been  charged  with  acts  which  he  never  committed,  but 
which  were  supposed  by  his  enemies  to  be  the  legitimate 
results  of  views  which  they  could  not  comprehend.'  Wheth- 

'  Morton,  Hubbard,   Mather,  and  other  nearly  cotemporary  writers,  have 
zrred  in  this  way ;  e.  g.  Morton's  Memorial,  153,  says,  "  he  would  not  pray 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    ERODE    ISLAND. 

er  in  this  case  he  entertained  the  precise  views  alleged 
against  him  or  not,  is  of  little  importance.  If  he  did,  it 
1635.  may  be  attributed  to  the  effect  of  the  prevailing  idea  of 
English  worship,  where  all  present  are  supposed  fervently 
to  unite  in  the  prescribed  forms  of  prayer,  however  incon- 
sistent may  be  their  lives.  An  undue  prejudice  may  have 
biased  his  judgment  in  this  particular.  The  fourth  alle- 
gation is  immaterial  otherwise  than  as  evidence  of  his  wis- 
dom and  zeal  in  opposing  the  attempt  to  estal3lish  by  law 
"  a  uniform  order  of  discipline  in  the  chiirches."  Uni- 
formity, the  rock  upon  which,  a  century  before,  the  reform- 
ed church  of  England  had  well-nigh  been  wrecked,  and 
which  ever  since  had  been  the  principal  occasion  of  diffi- 
culty, which  had  led  to  the  expatriation  of  the  Pilgrims, 
and  to  the  emancipation  of  the  Puritans,  was  about  to  be 
attempted  in  Massachusetts.  The  Court  had  already 
taken  measures  to  accomplish  this  object,  and,  if,  as  prob- 
able, these  minor  observances  were  to  form  a  part  of  the 
religious  system,  we  can  well  understand  why  Williams 
should  oppose  them. 

But  these  errors  of  doctrine  appear  to  have  had  less 
weight  in  determinino;  the  action  of  the  Court  than  did 
the  "  contempt  of  authority,"  by  the  Salem  church, 
of  which  he  was  both  the  instrument  and  the  victim. 
Church  and  pastor  were  each  warned  to  expect  sentence 
at  the  next  General  Court,  unless  satisfaction  should  mean- 
while be  given.  For  two  years  this  harassing  treatment 
had  continued  with  little  intermission.  Williams'  health 
failed  under  the  accumulated  burden  of  pastoral  duties 
and  legal  vexations.  While  in  this  condition,  "  being 
^""'    sick  and  not  able  to  speak,  he  wrote  to  his  church  a  pro- 

nor  give  thanks  at  meals  with  his  own  wife,"  &c.  Hubbard  copies  him  ver- 
batim. A  more  open  slander  Mather  in  his  History  has  exposed,  although 
with  no  good  intent  to  Williams,  in  Magnalia,  B.  7  ch.  2,  g  6,  which  is  cited 
by  Knowles,  69,  who  significantly  adds :  "  We  may  wonder,  nevertheless,  tliat 
Mr.  Williams  has  not  been  accused  of  stardng  his  children,  to  the  horror  of 
succeeding  generations ! " 


BANISHMENT    OF    ROGER    WILLIAMS.  37 

testation,  that  he  could  not  communicate  with  the  churches  chap, 
in  the  Bay ;    neither  woukl  he  communicate  with  them,   .^^^^^^ 
except  they  would  refuse  communion  with  the  rest."   The  163  5. 
cup  of  his  annjuish  was  full  when  he  penned  this  last  epistle, 
the  only  one  upon  the  record  of  this  protracted  contro- 
versy of  which  even  his  enemies   could  say  that  "  it  was 
written  in  wrath  ;  "  nor  con  we  know  that  the  apparent 
bitterness  of  his  rebuke  did  not  spring  from  a  spirit  more 
in  sorrow  than  in  anger. 

The  period  of  his  sufferings  was  shortly  to  terminate. 
The  letter  of  the  Salem  church  was  an  unpardonable  sin, 
which  he,  as  its  author,  was  to  expiate,  while  that  ad- 
dressed to  his  parishioners  was  considered  an  equally 
proper  subject  of  judicial  condemnation.  For  the  fifth  and 
last  time  he  was  summoned  by  the  authorities  to  appear 
at  the  next  General  Court,  where  these  two  letters  were  Oct. 
presented  as  the  sole  charges  against  him.  He  justified 
their  contents,  and  remained  unmoved  by  the  arguments 
of  Hooker,  who  was  appointed  to  dispute  with  him.  The 
result  was  a  decree  of  banishment  in  these  words : 
"Whereas  Mr.  Koger  Williams,  one  of  the  elders  of  the 
church  of  iSalem,  hath  broached  and  di\n^ilged  divers  new 
and  dangerous  opinions,  against  the  authority  of  magis- 
trates ;  as  also  writ  letters  of  defamation,  both  of  the 
magistrates  and  churches  here,  and  that  before  any  con- 
viction, and  yet  maintaineth  the  same  without  any  re- 
tractation ;  it  is  therefore  ordered,  that  the  said  Mr.  Wil- 
liams shall  depart  out  of  this  jurisdiction  within  six  weeks 
now  next  ensuing,  which,  if  he  neglect  to  perform,  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  the  governor  and  two  of  the  magistrates  to 
send  him  to  some  place  out  of  this  jurisdiction,  not  to  re- 
turn any  more  without  license  from  the  Court."'     It  is  a 

1  Winthrop  says :  "  At  this  general  court  Mr.  Williams,  the  teacher  at 
Salem,  was  again  convented,  and  all  the  ministers  in  the  Bay  being  desired" 
to  be  present,  he  was  charged  with  the  said  two  letters— that  to  the 
churches  complaining  of  the  magistrates  for  injustice,  extreme  oppression, 
etc.,  and  the  other  to  his  own  church  to  persuade  them  to  renounce  com- 
munion with  all  the  churches  iu  the  Bay,  as  full  of  anti-Christian  pollution, 

80414 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

/ 

/ 

CHJfi'.  singular  fact,  that  in  this  Court,  composed  Df  magistratcE 
^L^  and  clergy,  while  some  of  the  laymen  opposed  the  decree, 
every  minister,  save  one,  approved  it.  A  practical  com- 
mentary is  thus  afforded  on  the  danger  of  uniting  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  administrations.  It  suggests  the 
reflection  that,  of  all  characters,  the  most  dangerous  and 
the  most  despicable  is  the  political  priest. 

Liberty  to  remain  until  spring  was  afterward  granted 
him,  accompanied  by  the  injunction  that  he  shduld  refrain 
from  disseminating  his  opinions,  a  restriction  not  easy  to  be 
borne  by  an  earnest  mind,  conscious  of  possessing  important 
truths  and  actively  employed  in  diffusing  them.  To  con- 
tinue his  connection  with  the  Salem  church  was  incompat- 
ible with  his  i^resent  position.  The  church,  subdued  by  the 
severity  of  the  Court,  surrendered  at  discretion,  and  apolo- 
gized for  the  offensive  letter.  The  lands  for  which  they  had 
petitioned  and  been  refused,  were  soon  afterwards  granted 
to  them.  The  stern  exercise  of  power,  although  it  accom- 
plished its  purpose  in  breaking  the  spirit  of  the  people,  could 
not  alienate  their  affections  from  one  who  had  been  their 
fearless  champion  and  devoted  pastor.  Great  was  the  grief 
in  Salem  when  the  sentence  of  banishment  was  pronounced, 
1635-6,  ^"^^  many  prepared  to  follow  him  into  exile.  The  per- 
J^^-  mission  to  remain  until  spring  was  suddenly  withdrawn  at 
a  meeting  of  the  council,  and  his  immediate  departure  for 
England,  in  a  ship  then  ready  to  sail,  was  resolved  upon. 
The  reason  of  this  harsh  treatment  was  that  he  had  pro- 
mulgated his  views  among  those  friends  who  visited  him 
at  his  own  house,  and  was  i)lanning  a  settlement  in  Narra- 
eanset  Bay,  which  was  considered  as  being  too  near  for 

etc.  He  justified  both  these  letters,  and  maintained  all  his  opinions,  and 
being  offered  further  conference  or  disputation,  and  a  month's  respite,  he 
chose  to  dispute  presently.  So  Mr.  Hooker  was  appointed  to  dispute  with 
him,  but  could  not  reduce  him  from  any  of  his  errors.  So,  the  next  morn- 
ing, the  court  sentenced  him  to  depart  out  of  our  jurisdiction  within  six 
weeks,  all  the  ministers  save  one  approving  the  sentence ;  and  his  own 
church  had  him  under  question  also  for  the  same  cause ;  and  he,  at  his  re- 
turn home,  refused  communion  with  his  own  church." 


WILLIAMS    ESCAPES    TO    SEEKONK.  39 

the  safety  of  Puritan  institutions.  An  order  was  sent  for  chap. 
him  to  come  to  Boston,  which  he  declined  to  do.  A  boat  ^;._ 
was  then  despatched  to  take  him  by  force  and  place  him  16  3  6, 
on  board  the  ship.  Warned  by  the  previous  order,  he 
had  already  escaped  three  days  before,  no  one  knew 
whither.  Leaving  his  wife  and  two  infant  children,  he  set 
out  alone  in  midwinter  to  perform  that  arduous  journey  of 
which,  thirty-five  years  later,  he  wrote,  "  I  was  sorely  tossed 
for  one  fourteen  weeks,  in  a  bitter  winter  season,  not  know- 
ing what  bed  or  bread  did  mean."  Happily  for  the  world, 
and  most  fortunately,  as  the  event  soon  proved,  for  the 
people  of  New  England,  he  eluded  the  vigilance  of  his 
pursuers.  Had  their  designs  succeeded,  the  grasp  of  in- 
tellect and  the  energy  of  purpose  which  had  evolved  the 
grand  idea  of  religious  toleration,  and  was  about  to  estab- 
lish it  as  the  primary  article  inthe  government  of  a  State, 
would  have  been  transferred  to  another  field  of  action,  and 
generations  might  have  passed  away,  in  the  stormy  period 
of  English  history  then  commencing,  before  the  man  and 
the  opportunity  again  arose  to  test  the  great  experiment ; 
while  the  removal  of  the  only  man  in  New  England  who 
could  control  the  elements  of  Indian  warfare,  might  have 
given  another  and  fatal  termination  to  the  desperate  strug- 
gle which  Pequot  cruelty  was  preparing. 

Driven  from  the  society  of  civilized  man,  and  debarred 
the  consolations  of  Christian  sympathy,  Williams  turned 
his  steps  southward,  to  find  among  heathen  savages  the  boon 
of  charity  which  was  refused  at  home.  The  now  venerable 
Ousamequin,  who  sixteen  years  before  had  first  welcomed 
the  weary  Pilgrims  to  his  shores,  and  with  whom  Williams, 
during  his  residence  at  Plymouth,  had  contracted  a  friend- 
ship, received  with  open  arms  the  lonely  and  twice-exiled 
Puritan.  From  him  Williams  obtained  a  grant  of  land 
near  what  is  now  called  Cove  Mills,  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  Seekonk  river,  where  he  built  a  house,  and  commenced 
planting  with  the  view  of  permanent  residence.     But  this  April 


40  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

was  not  to  be  his  home.     In   the  qnaint   scriptural  lan- 
guage of  the  day,  "  he  had  tarried  on  this  sid*  Jordan,  ■while 

16  3  6.  the  promised  land  lay  still  beyond."  He  was  soon  advised 
by  his  friend  Gov,  Winslow  that,  as  his  plantation  was 
within  the  limits  of  Plymouth  colony,  who  "  were  loath  to 
displease  the  Bay,  he  should  remove  to  the  other  side  of 
the  water."  This  he  resolved  to  do,  and  in  company  with 
five  others,  who  appear  to  have  followed  hira  from  Salem, 
he  embarked  in  his  canoe  to  find  at  length  a  resting-place 
on  the  free  hills  of  Providence.  Tradition'  has  preserved 
the  shout  of  welcome,  "  What  cheer,  netop,"'  which 
greeted  his  landing  at  "  Slate  Eock  ;"  .poetry  has  em- 
balmed it  in  enduring  verse  ;  good  taste  affixed  the  name, 
"  what  cheer  "  to  the  adjacent  farm,  and  even  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  the  growth  of  population,  which  have 
thrown  these  broad  lands  into  the  market  of  a  proud  and 
prosperous  city,  have  respected  the  consecrated  spot,  and 
reserved  "  What  Cheer  Square,"  with  its  primeval  rock, 
forever  to  mark  the  place  where  the  weary  feet  of  Roger 
Williams  first  pressed  the  soil  of  Providence.^  Pursuing 
their  course  from  Slate  Rock  around  the  headland  of  Tock- 
wotten,  passing  what  are  now  called  India  and  Fox  points, 
they  entered  the  Moshasuck  river,  and  sailing  up  what  was 
then  a  broad  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  skirted  by  a 
dense  forest,  their  attention  was  attracted  by  a  spring  close 
on  the  margin  of  the  stream,  where  they  landed,  and  com- 
menced a  settlement,  to  which,  in  gratitude  to  his  supreme 

June,    deliverer,  WJITjniTTHgayeJ^hejname  of  ProvidenGg: 

There  is  a  singular  confusion  among  the  writers  as  to 

'  How  are  you,  friend  ?  "  What  cheer,  nelop,  is  the  general  salutation  of 
all  Englisli  townrd  them  (the  Indians).  Netop  is  friend." — B.  W.'s  Key  to  the 
Indian  iMnfiuarie,  ch.  1. 

'-■  The  wTiter  hopes  that  the  Rhode  Island  of  the  twentieth  century  will 
not  have  occasion  to  question  the  accuracy  of  his  narrative,  by  finding  that 
the  aforesaid  square  has  never  been  laid  out,  unless  upon  some  then  long-lost 
plat,  and  that  Slate  Rock  exists  only  in  the  pages  of  history.  At  present 
there  seems  a  likelihood  of  this. 


FOUNDATION    OF    PROVIDENCE.  41 

the  period  a  t  which  this  memorable  event  occurred,  arising  chap. 
rather  from  ignorance  or  carelessness  than  from  the  absence  ,^J[_^ 
of  authenti  3  data  The  precise  day  of  Williams  arrival  1  6  3  G. 
at  Seekonli;,  or  at  Providence,  cannot  be  determined,  but  ^"'^^ 
both  events  may  be  established  with  sufficient  accuracy 
for  nistorical  purposes.  The  Massachusetts  records  fix 
the  date  of  his  banishment,  and  also  the  proximate  time 
of  his  flight,  early  in  January,  from  which  time  the  "  four- 
teen weeks,"  that  he  describes  as  the  period  of  his  wander- 
ing, would  establish  his  settlement  at  Seekonk  about  the 
middle  of  April,  near  the  usual  planting  time  of  this  region. 
The  warning  letter  from  Gov.  Winslow,  after  he  had  "  be- 
gun to  build  and  plant  at  Seekonk,"  makes  it  certain  that 
he  was  there  after  March,  1636,  at  which  time  Mr.  Wins- 
low  became  governor  of  Plymouth,  and  the  only  year 
between  1633  and  1644  in  which  he  held  that  office.  A 
letter  to  Gov.  Vane  of  Massachusetts  from  Mr.  Williams 
is  dated  from  Providence,  July  26,  proving  that  he  had 
already  been  some  time  in  his  new  plantation  ;  so  that  in 
placing  the  foundation  of  Providence  in  June,  1636,  we 
feel  assured  of  a  tolerable  degree  of  accuracy. 

In  r^^nowjnrr  tl^Q  Tr.of^s^^ypt,  whi^h  l^d  to  thft  hnnishmput 

orRoger  WilKams,  we  find  that  they  all  proceeded  from 
the  firmness  with  which,  upon  every  oncasionj  he  main- 
tamed  the  doctrine  that  the  civil  power  has  no  control 
over  the  religious  opinions  of  men.  To  adapt  this  new 
theory  to  practical  life  was  to  effect  a  revolution  in  the 
existing  systems  of  government  ;  to  sever  the  chain,  which, 
since  the  days  of  Constantino,  had  linked  theology  to  the 
throne  ;  to  restore  to  the  free  mind  the  distinctive,  but 
long-fettered  gift  of  Deity — free  agency  ;  and,  in  fine,  to 
embody  in  civil  polity  that  principle,  but  dimly  un- 
derstood by  the  Reformers,  which,  from  W^itteuberg  to 
Rome,  in  the  cloister  and  the  camp,  had  aroused  the  sisirit 
of  all  Europe — the  right  of  private  judgment. 

The  entire  separation  of  Church  and  State  had  already 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISJ.AND. 

been  advocated  by  a  small  portion  of  Englisii  dissenters, 
consisting  of  Baptists  and  Independents,  bi  t  the  great 
10  3  6.  majority  of  Puritans,  as  we  have  seen,  still  maintained  the 
prerogative  of  the  crown  to  interpose  in  matter's  of  faith. 
Their  chief  objections  to  the  English  Church  related  to 
forms  and  ceremonies,  and  these  they  sought  to  alter. 
Persecution  failed  to  make  theiji  liberal  or  tolerant  to  the 
scruples  of  others. 

The  right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  according  to 
his  own  conscience,  untrammelled  by  written  articles  of 
faith,  and  unawed  by  the  civil  jiower,  implies  a  degree  of 
advancement  in  moral  science  and  political  philosophy, 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  tone  of  feeling  in  that  age. 
If  to  this  assertion  of  natural  right  we  add  the  denial  of 
any  power  in  civil  government  to  enquire  even  whether  a 
citizen  believes  in  the  existence  of  God,  we  have  a  propo- 
sition far  more  bold  than  many  which  had  already  led  a 
host  of  martyrs  to  the  gibbet  and  the  stake.  Yet  this 
was  the  sentiment  which,  in  those  days  of  political  dark- 
ness, Roger  Williams  had  the  clearness  to  discover,  and  the 
courage  to  defend.  He  dared  assert  the  freedom  of  the 
soul.  Thus  was  introduced  a  new  principle  in  political 
science,  by  eradicating  an  old  element  of  civil  polity. 
The  church  was  no  longer  to  be  a  portion  of  the  state, 
-^and  the  state  must  undergo  a  thorough  re-organization, 
/  when  deprived  of  its  powerful  auxiliary.  Roger  Wil- 
\.  Hams  saw  that  government  could  be  more  efficient  in  its 
jobject  and  more  just  to  its  citizens,  if  independent  of  the 
^y  church  ;  and  he  knew  that  the  church  could  best  sustain 
I  its  spiritual  nature  when  freed  from  the  clogs  of  state. 
1  Religion,  ethics,  and  jiolitics,  as  now  received,  are  alike 
\  indebted  to  him  for  their  fundamental  principle. 

Yet  plain  and  immutable  as  these  truths  appear  to  us, 
they  were  but  dimly  comprehended  by  the  wisest  states- 
men two  centuries  ago.  Their  exponent  was  driven  to 
found  a  new  state,  which  should  illustrate  the  great  prin- 


CHARACTEK    OF    THE    PURITANS.  4Jj 

ciples  for  which  he  contended.    From  England  he  had  fled /chap. 
to  Massachusetts,  seeking  sympathy    among  those  who!  ^'^.^^ 
had  suffered  with  him  in  a  common  cause.     But  affliction,  U  6  3  6. 
which  should  serve  to  soften  the  heart  to  the  sufferings  of  \ 
others,  seemed  only  to  increase  the  acerbity  of  the  Puri-      ! 
tans.     Even  among  the  ministers  of  Christ,  from  whom  he    / 
might  expect    forbearance,  if  not  kindness,  he  met  his\^    ^ 
most  virulent  enemies.  By  their  influence  he  was  banished,      ^^ 
and  escaping  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Narragansett,  he 
found  a  spot  in  the  pathless  wilderness,  where  he  could 
rear  a  temple  of  liberty,  consecrated  to  the   Lord  of  the 
whole  earth,  before  whose  ample  shrine  Jew  and  Gentile, 
bond  and  free,  might  each  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

Although  the  conduct  of  the  Puritans  in  this  trans- 
action cannot  be  justified,  it  rtiay  admit  of  palliation.  It 
is  a  source  of  regret  to  be  compelled,  from  the  nature  of 
the  subject,  to  treat  chiefly  of  the  dark  side  of  characters 
who  possessed  so  much  true  piety  and  essential  greatness 
of  soul — to  apologize  for  their  errors  and  expose  their 
obliquities. 

We  observe  in  the  Fathers  of  Massachusetts  a  degree 
of  virtue  and  intelligence,  and  a  supreme  regard  for  the 
dictates  of  religion,  and  for  the  preservation  of  a  sound 
morality,  such  as  has  never  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other 
country  in  its  early  history.  The  germs  of  a  powerful 
state,  competent  to  give  laws  to  the  world,  and  to  trans- 
mit the  heritage  of  a  wise  example  to  future  generations, 
are  seen  in  the  feeble  baud  of  Pilgrims,  planted  on  Ply- 
mouth rock,  and  in  the  throng  of  earnest  Puritans  gath- 
ered alono;  the  shores  and  headlands  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  But  while  we  recognize  these  noble  attributes  in 
the  men  who  persecuted  Roger  Williams  for  opinion's 
sake,  justice  requires  that  we  should  relate  facts  as  they 
occurred  without  abatement  or  reservation.  We  may  re- 
gret the  conduct  of  our  ancestors,  but  we  are  not  entitled 


44  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  to  defend,  or  to  extenuate,  their  errors.  We  may  account 
^^^.^^^^  for  them  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  may  show 
16  3  6.  that  they  originated  in  an  honest  misapprehension  of 
principles,  thereby  proving  that  the  actors,  though  mis- 
taken, were  consistent,  and  that  their  sins  were  rather  of 
the  head  than  of  the  heart.  This  view  we  adopt  in  our 
judgment  of  the  Puritans. 

In  estimating  their  characters,  we  are  too  apt  to  judge 
them  by  the  light  of  the  present  day.  Two  centuries  of 
progress  have  wrought  so  great  a  change  in  opinions  and 
views,  by  increasing  so  largely  our  fund  of  knowledge, 
that  what  was  expedient  or  proper,  or  even  right  in  those 
times,  would  be  justly  regarded  as  absurd  or  erroneous  in 
this  age.  We  might  as  well  revile  our  ancestors  for  the 
use  of  the  handloom,  since  modern  science  has  introduced 
self-moving  machinery,  as  to  denounce  them  for  not  acting 
upon  principles,  which,  in  their  day,  were  unrecognized  in 
civil  polity.  They  founded  a  colony  for  their  own  faith 
without  any  idea  of  tolerating  others.  For  doing  this, 
they  have  been  charged  with  bigotry,  fanaticism  and  folly. 
Evei-y  epithet  has  been  applied  to  them  that  can  be  em- 
ployed to  express  detestation  of  the  conduct  of  men  acting 
under  a  sober  conviction  of  truth.  Kegarding  their  con- 
duct from  the  standpoint  of  the  nineteenth  century,  all 
this  may  be  just.  The  like  proceedings  in  this  age  would 
deserve  the  severest  sentence  of  condemnation.  But  not 
so  two  hundred  years  ago.  The  bigotry  of  the  Puritans 
was  the  bigotry  of  their  times.  In  every  act  they  illus- 
trated the  spirit  of  the  age.  They  committed  some  wrongs, 
for  which,  even  with  all  this  allowance,  we  are  at  a  loss  to 
account,  which  seem  to  us  un})ardonable,  and  to  these  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  refer  ;  but  intolerance  is  not  one  of 
them.  Toleration  was  a  word  conveying  to  their  minds 
an  image  of  terror.  It  was  so  held  in  England  and  ' 
throughout  Europe.  The  principle  was  regarded  with 
the  same  heartfelt  abhorrence  that  conservative  statesmen 


CAUSES   OF    PURITAN    INTOLERANCE.  45 

now  exj^ress  for  tlie  feculent  emanations  of  the  Jacobin  chap. 
clubs  of  France  ;  for,  to  their  minds,  it  was  attended  with  ^,}^ 
the  like  fatal  results.  The  simple  cobbler  of  Agawarn  in-  163  6. 
forms  us  that  "  he  who  is  willing  to  tolerate  any  religion, 
or  discrepant  way  of  religion,  besides  his  own,  unless  it  be 
in  matters  merely  indifferent,  either  doubts  of  his  own,  or 
is  not  sincere  in  it."  To  the  same  end,  and  about  the 
same  time,  the  illustrious  Bossuet  was  employing  his  al- 
most superhuman  eloquence  to  obtain  the  royal  interfer- 
ence in  enforcing  the  supremacy  of  the  Papal  church.  The 
churches  of  Scotland  and  England  were  alike  zealous  in 
effecting  uniformity.  Edwards,  an  eminent  divine  of  that 
period,  says,  "  Toleration  will  make  the  kingdom  a  chaos, 
is  the  grand  work  of  the  devil,  is  a  most  transcendental 
Catholic  and  fundamental  evil.''  This  was  the  policy  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  and  with  this  state  of  public  opinion 
among  themselves,  and  these  high  authorities  to  counte- 
nance them  abroad,  we  cannot  in  fairness  condemn  them 
for  desiring  to  free  the  colonies  of  all  dissenters.  The 
abuse  of  their  principles  arose  mainly  from  the  tenacity 
with  which  they  maintained  them,  and  the  trying  situa- 
tion in  which  they  were  placed.  Had  their  own  views 
been  more  liberal,  we  may  well  doubt  whether  the  home 
government,  actuated  by  the  same  spirit  of  intolerance, 
would  have  allowed  the  dissemination  of  free  opinion  in 
80  large  and  prominent  a  colony.  It  was  not  till  some 
years  after,  when  a  convulsion  had  shaken  the  institutions 
of  England  to  their  foundation,  and  the  public  mind  was 
too  intent  on  the  fearful  crisis  at  home  to  regard  the 
affairs  of  distant  provinces,  that  a  free  charter  was  ob- 
tained for  the  then  obscure  plantations  in  Rhode  Island. 
Again,  the  Puritans  looked  on  every  departure  from  the 
established  creed  ««  bpin^o;  wliQf  in  fnpf  i^  -yy^g^  an  in- 
fringement of  the  civil  code  ;  for  in  their  constitution 
gDvcrnmcnl  vvus  merely "secondaryj  nnrl  thr  rhurclv-WRfl 
thy  pTiiSaiy  function.     Hence  the^_regarded  everxjUssent 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  from  their  religious  polity ^s  revolutionary,  as  subversive 
^^.^^  6f  social  order,  and  treated  it  as  a  crinie^  We,  therefore, 
16  8  6.  ^nd  them  summoning  Roger  Williams  before  their  highest 
tribunal,  to  answer  for  the  crime  of  holding  to  certain 
opinions  of  a  purely  religious  nature  ;  and  with  these  views 
we  are  not  inclined  to  wonder  so  much  at  their  expulsion 
of  Williams,  as  to  condemn  their  subsequent  conduct  to- 
wards him  and  his  colonv,  and  their  horrible  treatment  of 
the  Quakers  and  Gortonists,  which  form  the  darkest  chap- 
ters in  Puritan  history. 

It  is  pleasing  to  find  in  the  personal  kindness  of  many 
eminent  men  towards  Roger  Wilhams  at  this  time,  a  strong 
contrast  to  the  severity  of  the  magistrates  and  elders. 
The  mild  and  amiable  Winthrop,  who  was  the  ablest  as 
well  as  the  most  liberal  man  of  his  age  and  place,  appears 
to  have  regarded  Williams  with  great  affection  and  respect. 
He  had  ceased  to  direct  the  public  councils  some  months 
before  Williams'  ordination  at  Salem,  and  the  bigoted 
Dudley  had  succeeded  to  the  chief  magistracy  as  the  leader 
of  the  most  restrictive  party  in  Massachusetts.  The  per- 
secution of  Williams  is  to  be  attributed  to  a  policy  of 
which  Dudley  and  his  successor  Haynes  were  the  expo- 
nents. The  latter,  who  was  governor  w'hen  Williams  was 
banished,  openly  censured  Winthrop  for  the  mildness  of 
his  administration.  The  faithful  friendship  of  Endicott, 
who  afterwards  became  governor,  has  been  recorded,  and 
Williams'  letters  bear  testimony  to  the  kindness  of  Gov. 
Winslow  and  others  of  the  prominent  men  of  Plymouth. 
There  was  nothing  personal  in  the  li£)stility  of  his  ene- 
mies, the  bitterestjoi^-^whonTwere  am6n^"Hhe  clergy,  who 
sought  to  estab(^i  a  political  theocracy,  aija  dreaded  the 
promulgation  of  prmClplesf  which  Iht^y'could  not  compre- 
hend. A  yet  greater  obstacle  to  their  scheme  of  uniform- 
ity had  already  appeared  among  themselves,  and  after 
distracting  for  two  more  years  the  councils  of  church  and 
state,  was  destined  in  like  manner  to  be  violently  expelled. 


EARLY   LIFE    OF    ROGER    WILLIAMS.  47 

and  to  result  in  the  settlement  of  the  island  of  Khode-  chap. 

Island.  ^• 

Roger  Williams  had  scarcely  established  himself  at  163  6, 
Proddence,  before  the  Antinomian  controversy  burst  forth 
in  Massachusetts. 


APPENDIX   A. 

EARLY  LIFE  OF  ROGER  WILLIAMS. 

The  early  career  of  Roger  Williams  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  frequent  and  labored  investigation,  but,  until  very 
recently,  with  little  result.  Gradually,  however,  facts 
have  been  presented  which  throw  some  light  on  his  history 
prior  to  his  embarkation  for  America,  Dec.  1,  1630.  The 
discovery  of  the  Sadleir  letters,  a  correspondence  between 
Roger  Williams  and  Mrs.  Anne  Sadleir,  daughter  of  Sir 
Edward  Coke,  has  shed  light  upon  the  important  point 
of  his  education,  and  established  the  fact  of  his  being 
a  protege  of  Lord  Coke.  The  original  MSS.  are  in  the  li- 
brary of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Hon.  George  Ban- 
croft, while  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  procured 
copies,  and  presented  them  to  the  R,  I.  Hist.  Society. 
They  are  also  published  in  Dr.  Elton's  life  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams, ch.  xiii.  By  these  papers,  it  appears  that  his  illus- 
trious patron,  on  account  of  his  ability  displayed  in  taking 
notes  of  proceedings  in  the  Star  Chamber,  placed  him  at 
Sutton's  Hospital,  now  the  Charter  House,  the  records  of 
which  institution  show  that  he  was  elected  a  scholar,  June 
25,  1621.  and  that  he  obtained  one  exhibition,  July  9, 
1624.     (Elton's  Roger  Williams,  ch.  ii.) 

The  writer  regrets  that  he  cannot  adopt  the  other  par- 
ticulars relating  to  the  birth-place  and  university  educa- 
tion of  Williams,  contained  in  this  interesting  chapter. 
The  learned  author  is  undoubtedly  correct  in  assigning 


48  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

Wales  as  the  country  of  Koger  Williams.  The  name  is 
eminently  Welsh,  and  abounds  even  more  remarkably  in 
Anglesea  and  the  northern  counties  than  at  the  south. 
Still  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Maestroiddyn  was  the  birth- 
place of  our  Roger  Williams.  The  testimony  of  the  aged 
Nestor  of  Cayo  ic  conclusive  of  the  fact,  that  a  Roger 
Williams,  of  sirfficicnt  celebrity  to  be  known,  at  least 
among  the  natives  of  his  mountain  hamlet  and  the  inher- 
itors of  his  blood,  by  the  epithet  "'the  greaf'"  was  born 
there.  But  two  points  of  difficulty  occur  in  identifying 
him  with  the  founder  of  R.  I.  and  the  graduate  of  Oxford. 
The  records  of  Jesus  College,  cited  by  D.r.  Elton,  give  the 
name  as  "  Rodericus"  in  the  Latin  style  of  the  University, 
which  we  submit  should  be  "  Rogerus  "  to  meet  this  case. 
Or,  admitting  that  the  two  names  were  used  inter- 
changeably, which  is  barely  probable,  we  are  met  with 
a  fact  which  has  added  greatly  to  the  perplexity  and  la- 
bor of  this  research,  that  there  were  two  other  persons  of 
the  same  name,  filling  somewhat  conspicuous  positions  at 
about  the  same  time.  One  of  these  was  a  distinguished 
soldier  in  the  wars  of  Holland,  and  either  of  them  would 
seem  as  likely  as  the  founder  of  R.  I.  to  be  the  "  Roder- 
icus*' of  Conwyl  Cayo.  But,  Roderick  and  Roger  are 
distinct  names,  and  it  seems  an  unnecessary  violence  to 
assimilate  them,  when  a  more  natural,  and  in  other  re- 
spects also,  a  more  obvious  explanation  of  the  difficulty 
may  be  found.  Mr.  Collen,  the  obliging  Portcullis  of  the 
Herald's  College,  London,  has  made  the  genealogy  of  the 
founder  of  R.  I.  the  subject  of  diligent,  research  in  the 
archives  of  that  institution,  at  the  instance  of  a  wealth} 
family  in  Paris,  who  are  lineal  descendants  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams. At  his  suggestion,-  the  writer,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Romilly,  the  venerable  registrar  of  the  University,  exam- 
ined the  records  of  Cambridge,  thf  alma  mater  of  Lord 
Coke,  and  where,  from  the  connection  between  them,  the 
probability  is  that  WilHams  would  complete  his  education 


EARLY    LIFE    OF    ROGER    WILLIAMS.  49 

io  preference  to  Oxford.  In  the  admission  book  of  Pem- 
broke  College  is  an  entry  " Williams,  29  Jan., 

1623."  For  the  better  understanding  of  these  facts  it 
may  be  stated  that  the  students  in  the  English  Universi- 
ties are  classed  in  three  grades,  according  to  their  social 
position.  At  Cambridge  the  first  are  called  Fellow  Com- 
moners. This  grade  is  composed  of  the  'nobility  and  the 
wealthy.  The  second  are  called  Pensioners,  from  their 
boarding  at  the  College,  and  this  is  the  most  numerous 
grade.  The  third,  called  Sizars,  consists  of  the  indigent 
students.  When  a  student  enters  the  University,  his 
name  is  enrolled  on  the  admission  book  of  the  particular 
College  he  joins,  and  is  often  very  loosely  entered,  as  in 
this  case — no  Christian  name  or  particulars  being  given. 
The  matriculation,  which  occurs  after  an  interval  of  sev- 
eral months,  and  often,  as  in  this  case,  of  a  year  or  two, 
is  the  registering  the  name  on  the  books  of  the  Univer- 
sity. This  is  done  by  the  registrar,  with  the  student's 
name  in  full,  the  date,  and  a  list  of  degrees  taken,  each 
in  its  appropriate  column.  By  this  book  it  appears  that 
Roger  Williams  was  matriculated  a  pensioner  of  Pem- 
broke College,  July  7,  1625,  and  took  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Arts  in  Jan.,  1626-7.  He  took  no  other  degree. 
A  more  decisive  evidence,  in  its  bearing  upon  the  present 
discussion,  is  contained  in  what  is  called  the  "  subscrip- 
tion book."  This  was  introduced  in  1613  by  James  I., 
who  required  every  student  to  subscribe  to  the  thirty-nine 
articles.  In  the  first  volume  of  this  book,  under  date  of 
1626,  the  time  he  took  his  degree,  is  the  autograph  signa- 
ture of  RoGERUS  Williams.  A  copy  of  this  signature, 
carefully  compared  with  the  known  autograph  of  the 
founder  of  Rhode  Island,  leaves  little  doubt  of  their  iden- 
tity of  origin. 

Again,  the  testimony  of  Williams  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters dated  July,  1679  (Backus,  Hist,  of  the  Baptists,  i 
421),  that  he  was  then  "  near  to  fourscore  years  of  age," 

VOL.  L — 4 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ig  strongly  corroborative  of  the  received  opinion  that  he 
— . —  was  born  in  1599,  and  not  seven  years  later,  as  was  Rod- 
"  A.  ericus  Williams,  the  Oxonian.  In  that  case  he  would 
have  been  only  in  his  73d  year  when  writing  the  letter, 
and  would  hardly  have  described  himself  as  "  near  80." 
For  these  reasons  the  writer  is  reluctantly  compelled  to 
dissent  from  the  conclusions  of  his  early  instructor  and 
friend,  the  learned  Doctor  Elton,  on  the  point  of  the 
University  education  of  Eoger  Williams,  and  hence  like- 
wise as  to  his  being  identical  with  the  Roderic  Williams 
of  Conwyl  Cayo. 

The  difficulty  of  this  research  in  England,  occasioned 
by  there  being  three  persons  of  the  same  name  there,  is 
further  continued  in  this  country  by  the  presence  of  two 
Roger  Williams's  at  the  same  time  in  New  England, 
which  has  led  the  accurate  Prince,  and  all  subsequent 
writers,  into  error  with  regard  to  the  admission  of  the 
Roger  Wilhams  as  a  freeman  of  Massachusetts,  until  the 
mistake  was  corrected  by  the  diligence  of  Mr.  Savage, 
the  editor  of  Winthrop's  Journal,  and  late  President  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  than  whom  no  more 
thorough  or  more  liberal  historian  ever  lived.  In  the 
Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  i.  79,  is  a  list  of  "  the 
names  of  such  as  desire  to  be  made  freemen,"  among 
whom  is  Roger  WilUams.  This  is  under  date  of  October 
19tli,  1630,  nearly  four  months  before  the  founder  of 
Rhode  Island  arrived.  Most  of  these,  including  Roger 
Williams,  with  many  others,  took  the  freemen's  oath  at 
the  next  General  Court,  18th  May,  1631,  at  which  time 
our  Roger  Williams  had  been  three  months  in  the  coun- 
try, but  never  applied  for  admission.  The  freeman  was  a 
resident  of  Dorchester  at  that  time,  and  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Connecticut. 


THE    ANTINOMIAN    CONTROVERSY.  51 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  ANTINOMIAN  CONTROVERSY. 

1636—1038. 

While  the  colonists  were  legislating  for  tlie  preserva-  chap, 
tion  of  sound  morals,  by  enacting  sumptuary  and  other  .^ — ,-«. 
laws  to  regulate  their  domestic  economy,  there  arrived  a  1  ^  ^  •^ 
large  accession  of  emigrants  with  news  confirming  the  re-  g^^ 
ports  of  the  contemplated  encroachments  upon  their  liber- 
ties by  the  English  hierarchy,  which  led  to  the  adoption 
of  prompt  measures,  on  the  part  of  the  Greneral  Court,  to 
place  the  country  in  a  posture  of  defence.  Among  these 
new  comers  was  one  who  was  destined  to  cause  greater 
disturbance  to  the  Puritan  settlements  than  any  that  they 
were  to  receive  from  the  prevalence  of  "  immodest  fashions  " 
at  home,  or  from  the  designs  of  ambitious  prelates  abroad. 
A  woman  of  great  intellectual  endowments  and  of  mascu- 
line energy,  to  whom  even  her  enemies  ascribed  unusual 
mental  powers,  styling  her  "  the  master-piece  of  woman's 
wit,"'  and  describing  her  as  "  a  gentlewoman  of  an 
haughty  carriage,  busy  spirit,  competent  wit,  and  a  volu- 
ble tongue,"  2  who  by  a  remarkable  union  of  charity,  de- 
votion and  ability,  soon  became  the  leader,  not  only  of  her 
own  sex,  but  of  a  powerful  party  in  the  state  and  church, 
80  that  her  opponents  have  termed  her,  by  a  species  of  ana- 

'  Johnson.     Wonder-working  Providence,  B.  i,  ch.  42. 
*  Magnalia,  B.  vii.  ch.  3  §  7,  8. 


52  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  grammatic  wit,"  The  Non8Uch,<^^as  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson, 
^^.^J^  the  founder  and  champion  of  the  Antinomian  "  heresy^ 
10  34.  Acting  upon  the  principle  that  "the  elder  women  were 
to  teach  the  younger."  '  she  established  a  weekly  meeting 
at  her  own  house,  where  she  promulgated  her  views  in  the 
form  of  comments  upon  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Cotton.  These 
meetings  soon  became  largely  attended,  and  to  them  was 
traced  directly  the  origin  of  many  opinions  which  were  de- 
nounced by  the  authorities  as  heretical  and  seditious. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Puritans  had  already  changed 
their  position  in  becoming  the  founders  tlf  a  State,  and 
were  disposed  to  mete  out  to  all  dissenters  the  same  meas- 
ure of  persecution  which  hod  led  to  their  own  emigration. 
The  system  that  they  had  established  was  one  of  rigid  for- 
malism, exacting  a  great  regard  to  externals,  and  enforcing 
strict  conformity  in  matters  of  abstract  belief  Tliis  was 
a  position  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  existing 
age,  but  contrary  to  that  which  was  about  to  commence,  of 
which  the  premonitions  had  already  appeared  in  Massa- 
chusetts as  well  as  in  England,  The  new  comers,  who 
formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  had 
little  sympathy  with  the  established  order  of  the  state, 
and  were  prompt  to  embrace  the  novel  tenets  that  were 
started  at  variance  with  the  prevailing  creed.  These  opin- 
ions related  primarily  to  the  doctrine  of  free  grace,  or  jus- 
tification by  faith  alone,  which  was  stoutly  asserted  by 
Mrs.  Jffntrh^'"S'^n^  nnd  p'hjp' '■■m'"1  ^'J'  ln'i  hiii|iM:.r-i]i-'|>^nr^ 
leelwright/  minister__ai__Bi:aiiitre£,_who  had  recently 
red".  Although  this  cardinal  article  of  the  Reformation 
was  equally  upheld  by  the  Puritans,  they  did  not  overlook 
the  external  evidence  of  sanctification,  or  forget  the 
apostles'  injunction  that  "  foith  without  works  is  dead." 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  artfully  contrived,  by  giving  undue  pro- 
minence to  the  scriptural  idea  of  free  grace,  to  make  it 

'  Titu^  ch.  2,  vs.  3-5. 


PKEVALENCE    OF    THE    NEW    VIEWS.  53 

appear  that  her  opponents  denied  the  sovereign  efficacy  of  chap. 
faith,  and  grounded  their  hopes  of  salvation  upon  their  ^.^^..^^^ 
good  works,  and  she  denounced  them  as  being  "  under  a  168  6. 
covenant  of  works,"  while  she  claimed  for  herself  to  be 
living  "  under  a  covenant  of  grace."  The  starting  point 
of  disagreement  between  the  two  parties  related  to  the 
evidence  of  justification.  The  followers  of  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son contended  for  an  inward  light  as  the  only  sure  wit- 
ness of  divine  grace,  and  without  which  no  degree  of  mo- 
ral rectitude  could  give  assurance  of  a  saving  faith,  while 
the  legalists  held  that  obedience  to  the  moral  law,  being 
an  evidence  of  sanctification,  was  thus  far  a  proof  of  our  ac- 
ceptance with  Christ.  So  long  as  the  difference  was  con- 
fined to  this,  it  made  no  disturbance.  The  new  views 
3re  embraced  by  a  majority  of  the  Boston  church,  includ- 
ing Mr.  Cotton  himself,  and  were  warmly  espoused  by  the 
governor,  afterwards  Sir  Henry  Vane.  The  prime  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformation,  justification  by  faith,  and  the 
right  of  private  judgment,  were  too  nearly  allied  to 
these  views  to  admit  of  their  being  disputed.  The 
message  sent  to  England  by  Cotton,  who  favored  the 
new  opinions,  and  by  Wilson,  who  opposed  them,  con- 
tains the  substance  of  the  controversy  up  to  this  point  : 
"  That  all  the  strife  here  was  about  magnifying  the 
grace  of  God  ;  the  one  person  seeking  to  advance  the 
grace  of  God  within  us  as  to  sanctification,  and  another 
person  seeking  to  advance  the  grace  of  God  toward  us  as 
to  justification,"  to  which  Mr.  WUson  added,  "  That  he 
knew  none  who  did  not  seek  to  advance  the  grace  of  God 
in  both."'  Soon  however  the  breach  widened.  The  Hut- 
chinson  party,  who  claimed,  theologically  speaking,  to  be 
living^'  under  a  covenant  of  grace,"  not  only  denied  the 
int«nsicr-efflcacyl)f  good  works  for  _the..fialvatiQa_Qf_many 
but  caTried  this  BcripturaLdx>£ljirLe-.so. far  as  to  pervert 
itB"obvious  meaning,  by  rejecting  all  external  proofs  of  a 

'  Magnalia,  B.  vii.,  c.  3,  §  1. 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CUAP.   change  of  heart,  as  being  indications  that  the  convert  was 

,_1^  Hving  under  a  "  covenant  of  works." 

163  6.  The  idea  of  inward  revelation  was  no  novelty  in  the 

history  of  theology.      It  is  one  which  in  all  time  has  been 
effectively  employed  by  the  zealot  or  the  impostor  for  the 
accomplishment  of  purposes  requiring  the  incitement   of 
religious  fervor.     It  appeals  to  the  imagination  of  men,  and 
in  this  case,  it  thoroughly  aroused  the  latent  enthusiasm 
of  the  Puritans.     The  "  opinionists/'  as  they  wc^-e  at  first 
called,  soon  received  another  name,  and  from  the  disregard 
of  the  divine  law,  both  as  an  evidence  and  a  means  of 
grace,  with  which  they  were  charged  by  their  opponents, 
were  termed  Anjtinoiai^ns.     The  controversy  increased  un- 
til it  reached  an  alarming  height,  interfering  with  the  effi- 
cient prosecution  of  the  Pequot  war,  dividing  families,  and 
threatening  a  dissolution  of  society.     The  more  enthusias- 
tic people,  a  large  proportion  of  the  new  comers,  among 
whom  was  the  governor,  and  those  who  cherished  a  secret 
feeling  of  dislike  at  the  preponderating  influence  of  the 
clergy  in  secular  aifairs,  espoused  the  Antinomian  cause, 
while  those  who  were  attached  to  the  old  order  of  things 
in  church  and  state,  with  all  the  ministers  except  Wheel- 
wright and  Cotton,  formed  the  party  of  the  legalists.    With 
these  popular  elements  on  one  side,  based  upon  a  free  system 
of  theological  enquiry,  and  conducted  by  ardent  and  ta- 
lented leaders,  it  was  a  natural  result  that  new  and  often 
startling  opinions  were  promulgated,  and  the  whole  com- 
munity involved  in  a  giddy  maze  of  abstruse  speculation. 
Questions    pertaining  to  '•  our  personal    union  with    the 
S})irit  of  God,"  "  the   insignificancy  of  sanctification  to  be 
any  evidence  of  our  good  estate,"  "  the  setting  up  of  imme- 
diate revelation  about  future  events,  to   be  beheved   as 
equally  infallible  with  the  Scriptures,"  with  similar  recon- 
dite or  fanciful  themes,   were  everywhere  discussed  with 
more  than  scholastic  zeal,  and  with  "  the  exquisite  rancor 
of  theological  hatred." 


Oct. 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    DIFFICULTY.  55 

The  first  evidence  that  public  attention  was  directed  to   chap 
the  new  opinions  appeared  in  a  visit  made  by  the  other  min-       ^^ 
isters  of  the  Bay,  while  the  General  Court  was  in  session  at  l  6  3  G 
Boston,  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  rumors,  intending,  if 
need  were,  to  write  to  the  Boston  church,  warning  them  of 
the  dangers  of  heresy.     Cotton  and  Wheelwright  both  at- 
tended at  this  conference  and  satisfied  them  all,  that  on  the 
point  of  sanctification  as  an  evidence  of  justification,  there 
was  no  difierence  of  opinion,  while  on  the  question  of  t^ 
indwelling  of  the  person  of  the  Holy  Ghost  there  appeared 
no  material  disagreement,  many  of  the  clergy  holding  to 
that  doctrine  in  a  limited  degree,  but  not  to  a  personal 
union  of  the  believer  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  the 
tenet  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson.     Some    of  her  followers,  who 
were  members   of  the  Boston  church  now  sought  to  have 
Mr.  Wheelwright  appointed  over  it  as  one  of  the  teachers. 
This   was   opposed   by  Ex-Governor   Winthrop    on   the      3Q 
ground  that  the  church  was  already  furnished  with  able 
ministers,  and  that  Wheelwright  was  known  to  advocate 
certain  doctrines  at  variance  with  the  received  opinions,  as 
"  that  a  believer  was  more  than  a  creature,"  and  "  that 
the  person  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  a  believer  were  united."' 
A  discussion  ensued,  in  which  Deputy  Governor  Winthrop, 
Cotton,  Wheelwright,  and  Governor  Vane,  took  part,  re- 
sulting in  the  success  of  the  former,  so  that  the  church  gave 
way  that  Mr.  Wheelright  might  be  called  to  a  new  church 
about  to  be  established  at  Braintree.     The  defeated  mem- 
bers felt  aggrieved  at  this  attack  upon  their  candidate,      31. 
whereupon   the   next   day  Winthrop  apologized  for    his 
ofifence,  stating  that  Wheelwright  had  since  denied  holding 
the  ojiinions  charged  against  him  ;  and  then,  not  satisfied 
with  this  recantation,  most  unwisely  proceeded  to  argue 
from  the  doctrines  which  Wheelwright  admitted,  that  he 
must  necessarily  hold  to  these  objectionable  dogmas  also. 
It  was  a  question   of  metaphysical  distinction  too  nice  to 
be  debated  in  a  mixed  assembly,  and  it  would  have  been 

'  Winthrop  1,  202. 


56  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  well  had  Winthrop  been  satisfied  with  the  explaua- 
y^,.^!^  tions  of  his  Christian  brother,  A  similar  instance  of  the 
163  6.  dangerous  display  of  logical  acumen  liad  occurred  a  year 
before  at  the  trial  of  Roger  Williams  where  the  dialec- 
tics of  Hooker  convinced  the  court  that  Williams  did 
maintain  opinions  which  he  expressly  denied.  The  habit 
of  deducing  from  the  premises  of  enthusiastic  theologians 
conclusions  not  admitted  by  themselves,  and  then  charg- 
ing upon  them  not  only  errors  of  doctrine,  but  of  con- 
duct as  the  legitimate  result  of  these  conclusions,  was 
one  to  which  the  Puritans  were  addicted,'  that  caused 
them  infinite  trouble,  and  was  the  occasion  of  great  injus- 
tice to  the  dissenting  parties.  In  the  discussion  concern- 
ing the  settlement  of  Wheelwright,  the  first  public  exposi- 
tion of  the  new  opinions  was  made.  Heretofore  they  had 
been  confined  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  private  assemljly,  or 
made  the  subject  of  anxious  deliberation  by  the  ministers 
alone.  The  rupture  resulting  from  Winthrop's  impru- 
dence on  this  occasion,  revealed  how  dee]ily  the  heterodox 
notions  had  taken  root.  Cotton  and  Vane,  with  many 
others,  had  adopted  them,  while  Wilson  and  Winthrop 
resisted  the  heretical  novelties.  A  disputation  concern- 
ing the  nature  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  held  in  writing, 
that  the  peace  of  the  church  need  not  be  disturbed  there- 
by. The  prudent  conclusion  was  agreed  to,  that  as  nei- 
ther the  Scriptures  nor  the  primitive  Fathers  made  men- 
tion of  the  "  person "  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  terra 
should  not  be  used. 

At  this  juncture,  an  unfortunate  incident  occurred  to 
give  a  political  aspect  to  existing  differences,  and  added 
the  bitterness  of  jiartisan  feeling  to  the  asperity  of  religious 
controversy.  Governor  Vane  convened  the  Court  of  Depu- 
ties to  tender  his  resignation,'  alleging,  in  the  first  place, 
that  his  private  affairs  required  his  immediate  return  to 
England,  and  then  assigning  as  his  reason,  the  prevalent 
dissensions,  which  he  said  were,  by  some,  falsely  attributed 


VACILLATING    CONDUCT    OF    VANE.  57 

to  him.  The  court  silently  consented  to  his  departure,  and  chap. 
decreed  a  new  election.  In  the  interval,  some  members  of  ^^.^ 
the  church  represented  to  the  court  that  the  governor's  16  3  6. 
reasons  were  not  conclusive  ;  whereupon  Vane,  acting  upon 
this  demonstration  "as  an  obedient  child  to  the  church," 
declared  that  "  without  leave  of  the  church  he  durst  not 
go  away  "  although  the  court  had  assented.  The  result 
was  that  a  great  portion  of  the  people  declared  in  favor 
of  his  continuance  in  office,  and  the  Court  of  Election  was 
adjourned  to  meet  at  its  usual  time,  the  following  May. 
The  vacillating  conduct  of  Vane  in  this  aifair  has  greatly 
prejudiced  his  reputation.  He  has  been  freely  charged 
with  dissimulation  in  attempting  to  extort  an  expression 
of  popular  ojjinion  in  his  favor,  by  a  course  more  becom- 
ing a  demagogue  than  a  Christian  statesman.  The  sequel 
gives  the  color  of  plausibility  to  this  severe  condemnation. 
Happy  had  it  been  for  Vane  and  for  the  country  if  he  had 
embraced  the  opportunity,  given  at  his  own  solicitation  by 
the  court,  to  withdraw  from  New  England.  His  career 
in  Massachusetts  had  thus  far  been  unique  and  brilliant. 
No  other  man  had  ever  received  such  honors  at  her  hands, 
or  been  more  warmly  admired  by  the  people.  Six  months 
after  his  arrival  at  Boston  he  was  chosen  governor,  when  jjay 
only  twenty-four  years  of  age.  His  high  connections  and  25. 
popular  qualities,  notwithstanding  his  extreme  youth,  and 
inexperience  in  public  affairs,  combined  to  place  him  at 
once  at  the  head  of  the  State — an  injudicious  choice,  as  it 
proved  in  a  few  brief  months. 

At  this  court  an  attempt  was  made  to  reconcile  the  Dea 
differences  in  the  churches,  and  the  ministers  were  con- 
voked to  give  their  advice.  The  governor  took  a  j)romi- 
nent  part,  and  by  some  unseasonable  remarks  drew  upon 
himself  a  rebuke  from  the  fiery  Hugh  Peter,  who  openly 
charged  him  with  destroying  the  peace  of  the  churches. 
The  session  assumed  a  polemic  character,  and  closed  with 
a  debate  upon  the  nature  of  sanctification.     The  peace  of 


58  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  the  churches,  as  might  have  been  foreseen,  was  more  dis- 
.^^.^1^  turbed  than  promoted  by  this  attempt  at  judicial  inter- 
16  3  6.  ference.  A  speech  made  at  this  court  by  Mr,  Wilson, 
3l_"  pastor  of  the  Boston  church,'  gave  offence  to  some  of  the 
members,  who  demanded  a  public  explanation.  To  this 
Wilson  acceded,  and  the  opportunity  was  embraced  by  the 
Governor,  and  others  of  his  congregation,  to  assail  him  with 
bitter  reproaches.  The  excited  laity  were  only  restrained 
from  passing  a  direct  censure  upon  their  pasjtor,  by  the 
firmness  of  Cotton,  who,  in  lieu  of  it,  "gave. him  a  grave 
exhortation."  The  j^eople  seemed  beside  themselves  with 
indignation  during  this  earnest  dispute  upon  nice  points 
of  polemic  theology,  which,  i^robably,  very  few  of  them 
could  understand."^  The  effect  of  these  public  discussions 
was  to  spread  the  Antinomian  doctrines.  Those  heretofore 
enumerated  were  now  avowed  by  nearly  the  whole  Boston 
church,  while  still  wider  departures  from  the  orthodox  creed 
were  secretly  entertained,  and  awaited  only  the  stimulus 
of  opposition  to  be  openly  declared.    The  defection  of  Cot- 

'  The  organization  of  the  Puritan  churches  differed  from  those  of  the 
present  day.  Beside  the  pastor,  there  were  ruling  elders  and  teaching  elders, 
the  latter  of  whose  duties  did  not  vary  materially  from  those  of  the  pastor, 
while  the  ruling  elders  seem  to  have  had  equal  jurisdiction  with  him  in  the 
government  of  the  church.  Wilson  was  the  pastor,  Cotton  a  teacher  of  the 
Boston  church,  beside  whom  were  other  teachers  at  various  times,  the  num- 
ber of  these  seeming  to  be  decided  by  the  size  of  the  church.  Beside  these 
two  classes  of  elders,  there  were  deacons  also,  who  assisted  the  elders.  Our 
modern  deacons  approach  to  the  character  of  ruling  elders,  while  assistant 
pastors,  as  in  some  large  churches  now,  occupy  somewhat  the  position  of  the 
teaching  elders.  There  were  two  ruling  elders  of  the  Boston  church  at  this 
time,  Ohver  and  Leverett,  both  Antinomian  in  their  feelings,  as  indeed  were 
the  entire  church  a  little  later,  excepting  Wilson,  the  pastor,  Winthrop,  and 
some  two  or  three  others. — 1  Win.  212. 

*  The  hair-splitting  distinctions,  enunciated  -with  all  the  energy  of  an  ora- 
cle, by  the  disputants  on  either  side  oi"  this  controversy,  remind  one  of  the 
Scotchman's  definition  of  metaphysics — "  When  twa  persons  be  talkin'  t'gither, 
an'  fane  dinna  understan'  t'ither,  an'  t'ither  dinna  understan'  hi'self,"  while 
the  ^'iolence  with  which  the  factions  supported  their  respective  leaders,  illus- 
trates the  intensity  of  what  an  eminent  writer  has  termed  "  the  exquisite 
rancor  of  theological  hatred." 


PROCEEDINGS    AGAINST    WILSON    AND    WHEELWRIGHT.  59 

ton  was  a  sore  trial  to  the  clergy,  who  drafted  a  list  of  six-  chap. 

teen  points  of  supposed  disagreement,  upon   which  they   ^j^ 

desired  his  opinion.     His  answers  were  published,  and  also  l  *)  3  7. 
the  ministers'  reply  to  them.     The  dissensions  at  home, 
together  with  the  distractions  and  disasters  occurring  at 
this  period  throughout  the  Christian  world,  Avere  the  occa- 
sion of  a  general  fast  in  Massachusetts.     The  unhappy     j^^ 
dispute  now  assumed  a  more  general  character,  extending      20. 
beyond   the  limits  of  Boston,  and  disturbing  the  quiet  of 
other  churches.     The  baleful  distinction  of  me^n  ujid£L_lla 
covenant  of  works,"  or  imder^  "^ '^covenant  of  gi-ace,"  divided 

tTie  whole  community,     it  was  at  this  crisis  that  the  mes-     „  , 

-__^.^^  ^ Feb. 

sageT'beluib  recited,  was  sent  to   England  by  Cotton  and      3, 

Wilson,  which,  however  truly  it  might  describe  the  con- 
troversy in  its  earlier  stages,  gave  no  idea  of  the  party 
virulence  that  had  since  prevailed. 

The  ensuing  session  of  the  General  Court  presented  ^^  , 
more  the  character  of  an  ecclesiastical  council  than  of  a  9. 
legislative  or  judicial  body.  The  majority  were  legalists. 
The  proceedings  against  Wilson,  arising  out  cf  his  speech 
at  the  preceding  court,  were  investigated,  but  as  it  was 
impossible  to  identify  those  who  had  prejudiced  him,  no 
action  was  taken,  except  to  pass  a  vote  approving  of  the 
speech.  The  clergy  were  consulted  as  to  the  authority 
of  the  court  over  the  churches,  and  gave  the  opinion  that 
the  court  might  proceed  independently  in  cases  of  heresy 
dangerous  to  the  State.  This  advice  they  immediately 
followed,  bv  summoning  Wheelwright  to  answer  for  a  ser- 
mon  preached  by  him  on  the  recent  fast  day,  wherein  as 
they  alleged,  he  had  fanned  the  flame  of  dissension,  instead 
of  quenching  it,  thus  perverting  the  object  of  the  fast,  and 
adding  contempt  of  court  to  the  crime  of  seditious  preach- 
ing. The  sermon  was  produced  by  his  accusers,  and 
defended  by  its  author.  After  much  debate  Wheelwright 
was  pronounced  guilty  of  sedition  and  contempt,  but  sen- 
tence was  deferred  until  the  next  court.    The  governor  and 


60  Hlf-TORT    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,    some  of  his  party  protested  against  the  judgment,  but  with- 
^^^.^1^  out  effect.     The  Boston  church  petitioned  in  his  behalf  and 
163  7.  justified  his  sermon.     This  act  was  declared  to  be  pre- 
sumptuous ;  the  petition  was  pronounced  to  be  "  a  seditious 
libel,"  and  was  indignantly  rejected.     It  subsequently  fur- 
nished the  pretence  for  unwarrantable  severity.     So  great 
was  the  excitement,  that  it  was  decided  to  hold  the  next 
session  of  the  court  at  Newtown,'  a  motion  which  itself 
produced  a  violent  struggle  between .  the  two  parties.     Tli6 
dispute  had  now  become  so  warm  that  the  leaders  of  the 
^"     Boston  church,  Wilson  of  course  excepted,  even  refused  to 
sanction  by  their  presence  the  ordination  of  ministers  of  the 
opposing  faction. 

Such  was  the  temper  of  the  people  when  the  Court  of 
Elections  was  held  at  Newtown.  Party  tactics  were  applied 
•^^^'  to  defer  the  election  as  long  as  possible.  It  was  the  last 
struggle  of  political  power  on  the  part  of  Vane  and  his 
friends.  The  zeal  of  Wilson,  who  climbed  a  tree  to  ha- 
rangue the  assembled  multitude,  decided  the  fortunes  oi 
the  day.  The  people  clamored  loudly  for  immediate  elec- 
tion, and  the  governor  was  overborne  by  the  tumult. 
Fierce  denunciations  on  either  side  had  already  given  place 
to  acts  of  violence,  when  this  timely  exertion  of  the  Boston 
pastor  no  doubt  prevented  actual  bloodshed.  The  legalists 
triumphed  at  every  point.  Winthrop,  who  for  the  past  year 
had  been  only  deputy  governor,  was  restored  1o  his  for- 
mer otfice  of  governor,  and  Vane,  with  his  assistants,  Cod- 
dington  and  Dummer,  were  no  longer  magistrates.  Boston 
had  deferred  the  election  of  deputies  until  the  result  of  the 
general  election  was  known.  The  next  day  Vane  and  Cod- 
dington,  with  another  of  the  same  party,  were  returned  as 
deputies  from  Boston.  The  court  refused  to  receive  them 
19.  on  the  plea  of  informality,  but'  on  the  following  day,  the 
same  deputies  were  again  chosen,  and  the  court  was  com- 
pelled to  admit  them.     Wheelwright  appeared  to  receive 

'  Now  CnmbriJ'ie. 


IMPOLITIC    COURSE    OF    THE    ANTIN0MIAN8.  61 

his  sentence,  but  was  again  respited,  the  triumphant  party  chap. 
wishing  to  give  an  example  of  leniency  by  thus  affording  ^^1^ 
him  further  time  for  retraction.  The  prisoner  remained  16  3  7. 
firm,  inviting  sentence  of  death,  but  threatening  an  appeal 
to  the  king  in  case  the  court  should  proceed.  This  con- 
duct was  fatal  to  the  Antinomian  cause.  JThus  far,  the 
popular  feeling,  especially  in  Boston,  had  been  with  the 
liberal  party,  in  opposition  to  tiie  ciergv,  and  to  the  old 
order  of  magistrates!  The  threat  of  appeal  changed  the 
political  aspect  of  the  case7and~c"fe"ated  aTgvnlsTDn  of^ub-- 
4itr-fHeling.  The  new  comers,  equally  with  the  old  set- 
tlers,  dreaded  the  interference  of  England,  where  the  pre- 
latical  party  was  now  in  the  ascendant  This  feeling  was 
more  potent  than  any  domestic  difference.  The  right  of 
^appeal  admitted  the  English  claim  to  regulate  the  inter-  ^' 
lal  affairs  of  the  province,  so  that  the  question  now  ap- 
^eafed-likr^one  of  indepenrlence  against  subjectioTi,  in 
the  legalists  supported  the  popular  side.  This 
event  hastened  the  downfall  of  fheiFoppdnents,  and  stimu- 
lated the  dominant  party  to  those  acts  of  injustice  which 
were  now  to  be  consummated.  An  order  of  court  was 
passed,  imposing  a  penalty  upon  all  persons  who  should 
harbor  any  emigrant  for  more  than  three  weeks  without 
leave  of  the  magistrates.  This  combination  of  an  alien 
Jn  w  wiith  n.  pn  c-s^prtrf.  «?ystem  was  aimed  directly  at  the 
Antinomians.  who  w^ere  expecting  accessions  from  Eng- 
land,  and  occasioned  a  grpa.t,  ontpiy  Social  visiting  Avas 
interrupted,  and  personal  insults  were  of  frequent  occur-  July, 
rence.  The  arrival  of  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  with 
others  of  the  same  party,  afforded  opportunity  for  a  prac- 
tical application  of  the  new  law,  and  thus  increased  the 
rancor  of  faction. 

A  pamphlet  controversy,  respecting  Wheelwright's  ob-    Aug. 
noxious  sermon,  occupied  both  parties  until  the  all-en- 
grossing synod  assembled  at  Newtown,  which  was  to  heal 
every  difference,  and  to  settle  the  creed  of  New  England. 


30. 


62  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP.   A  list  of  eighty-two  "erroneous  opinions"  and  nine  "un- 
^^.i^  savory  speeches/'  supposed  to  embrace  the  whole  cata- 
16  3  7.  logue  of  prevalent  heresies,  was  presented  and  condemned.' 
Only  five  points  of  difference  remained  between  Cotton  and 
Wheelwright  on  one  side,  and  the  rest  of  the  ministers  on 
the  other.^     An  earnest  and  protracted  effort  at  reconcili- 
ation upon  these  metaphysical  niceties,  at  length,  through 
the  medium  of  ambiguous  expressions,  wrought  the  de- 
sired end  in  the  case  of  Cotton,  who,  with  more  perhaps 
of  prudence  than  good  faith,  "  explained,  distinguished, 
and  prepared  to  yield/'  ^     Wheelwright  maintained  his 
ground,  and  calmly  awaited  the  penalty  of  contumacy. 
^    ^     The  synod,  after  twenty-four  days'  labor,  dissolved,  with 
22.  ^  the   gratifying   result  that  Cotton,  heretofore  the  great 
leader   and  theological   dictator  of  the    Puritans,   after 
having   suffered  a  temporarj^  eclipse,  "  recovered  all  his 
12.     former   splendor   among   the  other   stars."  *     A   day  of 
thanksgiving  was  appointed  for  the  success  of  the  synod, 
and  for  the  recent  defeat  of  the  Pequots.     A  little  later 
it  was  discovered  that,  in  resjDect  to  the  former,  the  result 
had  n.ot  been  decisive.     Although  the  pliant  Cotton  had 

'  These  are  duly  set  forth  in  T.  Welde's  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  short  story 
of  the  Rise,  Reign  and  Ruin  of  the  Antinomians,  Familists  and  Libertines 
that  infested  the  Churches  of  New  England,''  a  very  scarce  and  curious  spe- 
cimen of  our  early  polemic  literature.  The  copy  which  I  have  read  is  the 
London  edition,  16-4-t.  It  contains,  besides  an  elaborate  preface,  G6  quarto 
pages,  20  of  which  contain  the  catalogue  of  errors,  with  their  confutation, 
by  the  synod ;  24  embrace  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Court  of  Nov.  2d, 
(erroneously  printed  Oct.  2d  in  the  book.)  1637,  which  punished  the  Antino- 
mian  leaders,  and  the  remainder  are  occupied  with  the  trial  of  Wheelwright  in 
the  preceding  March,  with  an  account  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  excommunica- 
tion. The  whole  is  a  bitter  and  bigoted  ex  parte  statement  by  an  actor  in  the 
scenes  described,  and  will  only  repay  a  reading  by  the  antiquary  or  the  cu- 
rious theologian.  A  remarkable  instance  of  "bibliographical  disingenuity '■ 
in  relation  to  this  book  is  exposed  by  Mr.  Savagj  in  a  lengthy  note  in  I  Win* 
throp,  298-300. 

^  They  arc  enumerated  in  1  Winthrop,  285. 

^  The  expression  is  Hildreth's.     Hist,  of  U.  S.,  i.  247. 

*  Magnalia,  B.  vii.  c.  3,  §  5. 


TRIAL    OF    THE    LEADERS,  63 

deserted  to  the  stronger  party,  Wheelwright  and  his  friends  chap. 
were  none  the  less  active  in  disseminating  their  views.  .— ..^^ 

At  the  next  General  Court  a  summary  course  was  16  3  7. 
adopted,  based  upon  the  petition  or  remonstrance  that  *2. 
the  Boston  church  had  j^resented,  the  preceding  March, 
in  behalf  of  Wheelwright,  and  which  had  then  been 
branded  as  a  "seditious  libel''  upon  the  court,"  Wm, 
Aspinwall  and  John  Coggeshall,  both  deacons  of  Boston 
church,  and  deputies  from  that  town,  were  dismissed  from 
the  court  ;  the  one  for  having  signed,  and  the  other  for 
defending  the  remonstrance.  One  of  the  two  deputies 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancies  thus  created,  was  immedi- 
ately dismissed  for  the  same  cause,  and  the  town  properly 
refused  to  elect  another  in  his  place,  William  Codding- 
ton,  the  third  deputy  from  Boston,  acting  under  instruc- 
tions, then  moved  a  reversal  of  the  censure  against 
Wheelwright,  and  a  repeal  of  the  alien  law.  This  demon- 
stration of  the  firmness  of  Wheelwright's  friends  caused 
the  court  to  summon  him  the  same  day  to  receive  sen- 
tence, which,  since  his  conviction  in  March,  had  been 
from  time  to  tiine  deferred.  He  was  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment, and  required  to  leave  the  jurisdiction  within  fourteen 
days,  upon  penalty  of  imprisonment,  John  Coggeshall, 
who  a  few  days  before  had  been  expelled  from  his  seat, 
was  then  summoned,  and  narrowly  escaped  the  same 
punishment,  but  was  released  upon  being  disfranchised, 
and  admonished  to  keep  the  peace  on  pain  of  banish- 
ment.2  Wihiam  Aspinwall  was  next  called  to  trial  for 
the  same  offence,  and  sentenced  to  be  disfranchised  and 

^  This  petition  is  preserved  in  Welde's  "  Rise,  Reign  and  Ruin,"  p.  23-25, 
and  13  copied  by  Mr.  Savage  in  1  Winthrop,  App.  E.,  where  the  reader  wll 
find  it  difficult  to  detect  sedition  or  presumption  in  its  earnest  but  respectful 
language.  It  was  drawn  up  by  Wm.  Aspinwall,  afterwards  the  first  Secre- 
tary of  R.  I.  Colony,  and  signed  by  about  sixty  of  the  principal  men  in  Bos- 
ton, some  of  whom,  banished  at  this  court,  soon  after  settled  the  i.sland  of 
Rhode  Island. 

-  He  was  soon  after  exiled,  and  became  the  first  President  of  R.  I.  Colony, 


64  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  banished,  but  was  allowed  to  remain  until  spring.  Several 
^^^^^^^^  other  signers  of  the  petition  and  chiefs  of  the  Antinomian 
1637.  party,  were  in  turn  brought  before  the  court,  and  pun- 
15/  ished  by  disfranchisement  and  fines,  among  whom  were 
William  Balstone  '  and  Captain  Underhill,  who  thus  re- 
ceived the  reward  of  his  distinguished  services  in  -the  Pe- 
quot  war.  The  male  leaders  being  thus  summarily  disposed 
of,  the  author  of  all  this  commotion,  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
herself,  was  brought  into  court.  Her  trial  occupied  two 
days.  It  was  opened  in  the  form  of  questions  between 
the  court  and  the  accused,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
deduce  from  her  own  admissions  the  evidence  of  her  guilt. 
Even  the  report  given  by  Welde,  one  of  her  prosecutors 
and  judges,  leaves  her,  at  the  end  of  the  first  day,  un- 
scathed by  the  dialectics  of  the  court.  The  next  morn- 
ing, however,  she  undertook  a  defence  in  a  lengthy  speech, 
wherein  she  broached  the  doctrine  of  inward  revelations, 
enforcing  her  views  by  scriptural  quotations,  and  claiming 
in  a  manner  to  be  herself  inspired  ;  in  evidence  of  which, 
she  enumerated  sundry  revelations  that  she  had  received, 
and  among  them  that  she  should  go  to  New  England  and 
be  persecuted,  of  which  revelation  she  asserted  her  present 
trial  to  be  a  fulfilment.  "  The  court  saw  now  an  inevi- 
table necessity  to  rid  heraway;"^  sentence  of  banishment 
was  pronounced,  and  she  was  handed  over  to  the  marshal 
to  await  its  execution. 

A  most  remarkable  act,  unparalleled  in  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  American  States,  concluded  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  memorable  court.  The  principal  men 
of  the  proscribed  party  in  all  the  towns  we're  ordered  to 
deliver  up  their  arms  and  ammunition  before  the  30th 
of  the  month,  unless  they  would  "  acknowledge  their  sin 
in  subscribing  the  seditious  libell,"  before  two  magistrates.^ 

*  He  was  one  of  the  four  assistants  chosen  in  1641  in  the  island  of  R.  I. 
■^  Welde,  p.  41.     For  this  and  all  the  foregoing  cases  tried   at  the  Nov 

court,  1637,  see  Welde's  Rise,  Reign  and  Ruin,  pp.  23-42. 

*  Winthrop,  i.  296,  note. 


BANISHMENT    OF    MRS.    HUTCHINSON.  65 

Seventy-five  names  are  enumerated  as  the  objects  of  this 
astonishing;  order,  which  naturally  enouo^h,  as  the  finale  to 
so  much  tyranny,  aroused  a  strong  feeling  of  indignation. 
The  governor  took  an  early  occasion  to  justify  the  conduct 
of  the  court  to  the  excited  congregation  with  whom  he 
was  a  worshipper. 

The  secular  arm  having  been  so  efficiently  exercised  to 
purge  the  state,  the  ecclesiastical  authority  was  next  ex- 
erted to  purify  the  church.  Many  of  the  signers  of  the  no- 
torious petition  were  proceeded  with  "  in  a  church  way  " 
by  admonition,  and  when  this  failed  to  convince  them  of 
their  sin,  excommunication  was  pronounced  against  them. 
The  more  serious  errors  before  alluded  to,  as  being  secretly  1 63  8. 
entertained  by  the  followers  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  were  now 
openly  avowed,  and  gave  occasion  for  earnest  consulta- 
tions between  the  magistrates  and  elders.  A  few  of  the 
most  intelligible  of  these  notions  were  :  '*'  That  the  law 
is  no  rule  of  life  to  a  Christian,"  that  "  union  to  Christ  is 
not  by  faith,"  that  "  there  is  no  such  thing  as  inherent 
righteousness,"  that  "  the  Sabbath  is  but  as  other  days," 
that  "  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  body,"  and  many 
other  dogmas,  which,  however  harmless  they  might  appear 
when  explained  by  their  propounders,  were  fraught  with 
danger  when  adopted  in  their  literal  significance  by  the 
multitude,  unskilled  in  ethical  subtleties.'  Mrs.  Hutch-  ^  >. 
inson  was  examined  before  the  church  upon  these  latter  15. 
charges,  and  gravely  admonished  by  the  teacher,  Cotton. 
A  vain  hope  was  felt  that  she  might  recant,  for  which 
end  she  was  permitted  to  reside  for  a  few  days  at  Cotton's 
house  ;  but  when  the  examination  was  renewed  her  ob- 
duracy was  manifest,  and  "  the  church  with  one  consent 
cast  her  out."     The  virus  of  Antinomianism  had  become 

'  A  list  of  twentv-nine  theses,  from  which  the  above  five  examples  are  se- 
lected, was  presented  at  the  examination  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  before  the 
church,  15  March,  1G38,  all  rf  which  she  defended.  They  may  be  found  in 
Welde's  book,  pp.  59-61. 

VOL.  I — 5 


66  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

neutralized  by  its  own  excess.  A  warrant  to  execute  tho 
sentence  of  banishment  was  immediately  issued,  and  the 
16  3  8.  arch  heretic  departed  into  exile,  to  meet  ere  long  a  dread- 
ful death.'  Wheelwright  with  his  family  removed  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Piscataqua,  where  he  commenced  the 
settlement  of  Exeter.^  The  larger  portion  of  the  exiles, 
among  whom  was  the  husband  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  had 
already  gone  forth  to  seek  a  refuge  in  the  wilderness. 

Thus  ended  the  Antinomian  controversy  in  Massachu- 
setts— the  most  bitter  strife  that  has  ever  agitkted  New 
England,  adding  the  severity  of  political  conflict  to  the 
fierceness  of  doctrinal  contention.  Now  that  two  centu- 
ries have  passed  away,  and  the  names  of  Legalist  and  An- 
timonian  are  known  only  to  the  student  of  history,  we 
may  calmly  review  the  causes  and  trace  the  results  of  this 
stormy  episode  in  Puritan  annals. 

The  different  phases  presented  in  the  progress  of  the 
disjjute  are  accounted  for  by  the  changing  elements  which 
at  various  periods  it  involved.  Originally  it  was  purely 
of  a  theological  character.  Matters  of  abstract  belief, 
upon  which  all  were  agreed  in  their  practical  application, 
were  discussed  in  their  metaphysical  bearing.  Terms  not 
used  in  the  Scriptures  were  employed  to  express  shades 
of  thought  in  relation  to  the  sublimest  mysteries  of  the 
inspired  volume.  The  specific  purpose  for  which  this 
"  barbarous  terminology  "  was  first  applied,  was  soon  over- 
looked, and  the  fact  that  such  expressions  were  merely  "  of 
human  invention  "  was  forgotten  in  the  heat  of  discussion. 
Thus  they  came  to  assume  a  reality  in  the  minds  of  the  dis- 


*  Her  subsequent  history  is  soon  told.  She  went  first  to  Providence,  and 
thence  to  Aqucdneck,  which  had  just  been  purchased  by  the  fugitives  of  her 
party,  and  where  her  husband  died  in  1642.  Soon  after  this  bereavement  she 
removed  with  her  family  to  a  spot  near  Hurl  Gate,  within  the  Dutch  jurisdiction, 
where  in  a  short  time  she,  and,  with  tlie 'exception  of  one  child,  all  her  house- 
hold, sixteen  in  number,  were  murdered  by  the  Indians  in  lG-t3 — a  tragedy 
which  the  bigoted  'Welde  narrates,  as  a  special  providence  upon  this  "  Ameri- 
can Jezebel." 

"  Belknap's  New  Humpshire,  i.  37. 


THEOLOGICAL    ASPECT   OF    ANTINOMIANISM.  67 

putants,  and  gave  to  the  argument  a  material  instead  of 
an  abstract  significance.  The  people  who  Hstened  re- 
ceived the  subtile  theses  of  the  debaters  as  the  words  of  16  3  8. 
an  oracle,  while  fanaticism  readily  embraced  the  doctrine 
of  inward  revelation,  which  was  fii-st  cautiously  insinuated 
and  then  boldly  announced.  The  spread  of  dangerous 
heresies  was  stimulated  by  the  rigid  discipline  of  the 
Puritan  churches.  The  desire  for  uniformity  in  creed 
and  ceremonial  produced  a  stringency  of  regulation  that 
precluded,  even  in  non-essentials,  that  latitude  which  a 
sound  discretion  would  allow.  This  strictness,  however 
congenial  to  those  who  ordained  it,  was  offensive  to  subse- 
quent settlers,  whose  feelings  were  thus  enlisted,  from  the 
moment  of  their  arrival,  in  any  movement  that  promised 
relaxation.  Furthermore,  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, with  which  the  new-comers  were  strongly  imbued, 
but  which  had  lost  some  portion  of  their  hold  upon  the 
Puritan  mind,  when  the  possession  of  power  had  diverted 
their  application,  favored  a  degree  of  liberality  and  toler- 
ance distasteful  to  the  rulers  of  Massachusetts.  The  right 
of  private  judgment  was  merged  in  the  authority  of  cor- 
porate decrees.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
alone,  which  in  the  hands  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  had 
shivered  the  gorgeous  ritual  of  Rome,  seemed,  to  the 
Antinomians,  to  be  lost  in  the  scrupulous  attention  paid 
to  formal  and  protracted  worship.  On  the  other  hand, 
'■'  Calvinism  run  to  seed  "  was  an  expression  used  by  the 
Legalists  to  describe  the  position  of  their  opponents.  The 
antagonist  elements  of  human  character  were  here  de- 
veloped on  the  arena  of  religious  strife.  In  its  theologi- 
cal aspect,  the  Antinomian  controversy  was  the  system  of 
Geneva,  logically  pursued,  in  conflict  with  the  practice  of 
Massachusetts — a  struggle  for  freedom  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion against  the  spirit  of  formalism. 

Politically  considered,  it  presents  a  phenomenon  not 
unusual  in  the  history  of  the  world,  but  singular  enough  in 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

a  community  so  entirely  controlled,  through  moral  means, 
by  the  clerical  profession.  It  was  a  demonstration  by  the 
16  3  8.  masses  against  spiritual  domination — a  protest  of  the  peo- 
ple in  opposition  to  the  clergy.  The  colony  was  still  a 
close  corjioration  in  wliich  but  a  small  number  of  residents 
were  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  freemen.  The  test 
act  '  was  now  working  its  legitimate  effect  in  arousing 
a  spirit  of  hostility  to  existing  institutions,  which  was 
specially  directed  against  those  who  were  supposed  to  be 
its  authors  and  most  strenuous  advocates.  A  sense  of  in- 
justice was    preparing    -nTPnyirulg  ^^f  flip    |u^n-p1n    fm-    nvnrf 

resistance  to  the  supremany  of  the  <"h^rgy  The  shrewd 
and  cautious  Cotton  maintained  their  cause  until  the  re- 
action, caused  by  the  indiscretion  of  Wheelwright,  was 
apparent,  and  the  political  leader  of  the  faction  was  dis- 
graced at  the  general  election.  When  the  powerful  influ- 
ence of  Vane  was  thus  withdrawn,  Cotton  made  good  his 
reconciliation  with  his  ofi'ended  colleagues,  and  still  ap- 
peared as  the  devoted  servant  of  the  peojjle.  \][)  to  this 
period  the  political  phase  of  the  controversy  was  as  dis- 
tinctly marked  as  its  theological  character.     — -^^ 

There  is  one  other  point,  somewhat  akin  to  this, 
which  should  not  be  overlooked,  as  it  helj^s  to  explain  the 
position  of  parties  in  this  obstinate  strife.  Viewed  in  its 
social  aspect,  this  was  a  contest  between  the  new-comers 
and  the  old  settlers.  Nearly  three  thousand  passengers 
arrived  the  same  year  with  Henry  Vane,  and  only  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  freemen  were  added  to  the  colony.^ 
This  disjmrity,  together  with  what  has  before  been  writ- 
ten, will  account  for  the  feeling  which  disturbed  even  the 
proprieties  of  social  life. 

From  these  various  causes  the  Antinomian  party  was 
at  one  time,  far  the  most  numerous  in  Boston,  recruiting 
its  ranks  from  the  most  accomplished  as  well  as  the  most 
liberal  of  her  citizens  ;  while  in  other  towns  it  was  rapidly 

'  Passed  May  18,  1631.  »  Holmes's  Annals,  229. 


RESULTS    OF   THE  CONTROVERSY.  69 

augmenting  its  forces,  and  preparing  to  imbue  the  exclu-  chap 
sive  spirit  of  the  Puritans  with  more  of  liberality  in  feel-  ^^.^^ 
ing  and  i^ractice.  168  8. 

Thus  much  for  the  causes  of  this  celebrated  dispute. 
Its  results  upon  the  Puritans  were  exhibited  in  a  gradual 
relaxation  from  the  severity  of  their  political  system,  de- 
manded by  the  growing  jealousy  of  the  people  at  the 
power  of  their  ministers  and  magistrates.  This  was  slow 
but  certain  in  its  operation,  so  that  the  union  of  church 
and  state  became  much  less  oppressive  in  the  next  gene- 
ration. Its  farther  results,  upon  the  victims  of  its  fury 
who  were  driven  to  establish  their  principles  in  an  inde- 
pendent colony,  soon  afterwards  united  by  parliamentary 
patent  with  the  Providence  Plantations,  the  progress  of 
this  history  will  develop. 

By  Clark's  narrative  it  appears  that  during  the  pre-  16.3  7. 
ceding  autumn  many  of  the' Antinomians,  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  and  to  enjoy  freedom  of  conscience,  had  determined 
to  remove.  The  suffocating  heat  of  the  past  summer  in- 
duced them  to  seek  a  place  at  the  north,  but  the  severity 
of  the  ensuing  winter  compelled  them  in  the  spring  to 
move  farther  south.  With  John  Clark  and  "vVilliam  igsj.g 
Coddington  as  their  leaders,  the  exiles  designed  to  estab- 
lish themselves  on  Long  Island  or  near  Delaware  Bay, 
and  while  their  vessel  was  doubling  Cape  Cod  they  went 
by  land  to  Providence.  Narraganset  Bay,  which  seemed 
the  destined  refuge  for  outcasts  of  every  faith,  attracted 
the  wanderers  by  its  fertile  shores  and  genial  climate. 
Poger  Williams  recommended  them  to  settle  at  Sowams, 
now  called  Phebe's  Neck,  in  Barrington,  on  the  main 
land,  or  on  the  island  of  Aquedneck,  now  Rhode  Island. 
He  accompanied  the  exploring  party,  consisting  of  Clark 
and  two  others,  to  Plymouth,  to  inquire  about  Sowams, 
when  finding  that  this  was  claimed  to  be  within  Ply- 
mouth patent,  they  selected  the  large  and  beautiful  island 


.0 


n 


^ 


24. 


HISTOR 


tAW^ 


THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


of  Aquednec^X  Upon  their  return  to  Providence  a  num 
©f  "tfie  principal  people  formed  themselves  into  a  bodj 
politic   by  vohmtary  agreement,   as  the  inhabitants  of 
Providence  had  already  done,  and  chose  William  Codding- 
ton  to  be  their  judge  or  chief-magistrate. 

Through  the  powerful  influence  of  Roger  Williams, 
who  in  his  account  of  the  affair,  modestly  divides  the 
honor  with  Sir  Henry  Vane,  negotiations  were  shortly 
concluded  with  Canonicus  and  Miantinomi  for^  the  puf- 
xjhase  of  the  island.     As  soon  as  the  deed  was  obtained 


'  This  name  is  spelle<?  ^  several  ways,  a  common  thing  with  all  the  In- 
dian names,  as  Aquetnet,  Aquiday,  Aquetneck,  Aquidneck,  Acquettinck,  &c., 
but  the  writer  presei-ves  the  orthography  used  in  the  original  Indian  deed  of 
the  island.  He  also,  to  avoid  confusion,  will  apply  to  the  island  colonj'  its 
original  name  down  to  the  time  of  the  second  charter,  1663,  when  the  official 
designation  in  the  first  patent,  1643,  of  "  The  incorporation  of  the  Providence 
Plantations  in  Xarraganset  bay  in  New  England,"  gave  place  to  the  title 
which  has  ever  since  been  preserved  of  "  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plan- 
tations," now  abbreviated  in  common  use  to  the  name  Rhode  Island.  It  was 
not  till  1644  that  the  colonists  changed  the  Indian  name  to  "  Rhode  Island," 
or  the  "  Isle  of  Rhodes."  The  derivation  of  this  name  has  given  rise  to  much 
discussion.  By  what  strange  fancy  this  island  was  ever  supposed  to  resemble 
that  of-  Rhodes,  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  is  difficult  to  imagine,  and  it  is 
equally  strange  that  the  tradition  that  it  was  named  from  such  resemblance 
should  be  transmitted  or  be  believed,  unless,  indeed,  because  it  is  easier  to 
adopt  a  geographical  absurdity  than  to  investigate  an  historical  point. 

Verrazano,  a  Florentine  navigator  in  the  service  of  Francis  I.  of  France, 
explored  the  American  coast,  and  spent  more  than  two  weeks  in  the  spring  of 
1524  in  the  spacious  harbor  upon  which  Newport  now  stands.  The  passage 
in  his  naiTative  that  has  been  cited  as  authority  by  the  advocates  of  this  prev- 
alent mistake,  refers  to  Block  Island,  which  with  much  more  geographical  ac- 
curacy than  in  the  case  of  Rhode  Island,  may  be  thought  to  resemble  the 
Mediterranean  island. 

The  celebrated  Dutch  navigator  Adrian  Block,  gave  .his  own  name,  still 
preserved  with  the  omission  of  tlie  Christian  name,  to  that  ishind  wliich  Ver- 
razano had  before  noticed  as  resembling  the  Isle  of  Rhodes.  Tlie  name  in 
full  is  found  on  the  T  itch  charts  of  that  day.  Afterward,  like  his  Italian 
predecessor,  he  snilec  into  Narraganset  Bay,  where  he  commemorated  the 
fiery  aspect  of  the  plac3,  caused  by  the  red  clay  in  some  portions  of  its 
shores,  by  giving  it  the  name  of  Roodt  Eylandt — the  Red  Island,  and  by  easy 
transposition,  Rhode  Island  ;  and  Verrazano's  casual  notice  of  the  neighboring 
isluml  lias  been  inadvertentlv  transferred  to  this. 


SETTLEMENT    OF    AQUEDNECK.  Yl 

they  commenced  a  settlement  called  Pocasset,  at  the  cove  chap. 

^  on  the  northeast  part  of  the  island,  in  the  town  of  Ports-  v^^^ 

J  mouth.     The  colony  increased  rapidly  during  the  sum-  16  3  8. 

■x  mer,  so  that,  in  the  following  spring,  a  portion  of  their     24. 

]  number  moved  to  the  southwest  part  of  the  island,  and 

I  began  the  settlement  of  Newport.  16  39. 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  ABORIGINES  OF  RHODE  ISLAND— PEqUOT  WAK 


We  have  now  traced  the  causes  which  led  to  the  set' 
tlement  of  Providence  and  Aquedneck.  Before  speak- 
ing of  the  later  settlements  within  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Ehode  Island,  let  us  glance  at  the  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  time  when  Wm.  Blackstone  first  hroke 
the  stillness  of  the  primeval  forest  with  the  axe  of  the 
English  pioneer,  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  that  now 
bears -his  name;  when  Roger  Williams  with  his  little 
band  first  crossed  the  Seekonk,  to  found  a  State  upon 
principles  as  novel  to  his  own  race  as  to  the  swarthy 
Indians  with  whom  he  sought  a  home  ;  when  John  Clark 
and  his  brave  companions  peaceably  purchased  "  the  Eden 
of  America"  from  its  aboriginal  lords,  and  founded  a 
Christian  colony  in  the  midst  of  heathen  barbarism. 

A  fertile  soil  yielded  an  ample  return  for  the  simple 
agriculture  of  the  Indians.  Numerous  streams,  frequented 
by  the  trout  and  the  salmon,  discharged  themselves  into 
a  broad  and  beautiful  bay,  whose  full  extent  was  yet  un- 
known to  the  sails  of  commerce,  but  wliich  was  dotted 
with  emerald  islands,  and  on  its  shores  were  found  the  de- 
licious shellfish  that  furnished  the  favorite  food  and  the 
only  money  to  the  rude  natives.  Forests,  the  undisturbed 
growth  of  centuries,  overspread  the  land  and  sheltered 


THE    INDIAN    TRIBES.  73 

alike  the  bear,  the  panther,  the  wolf,  the  red  deer  and  chap. 
the  fox,  with  their  natural  master  the  aboriginal  Man.  ^1:^ 
Dense  swamps  furnished  a  lurking-place  for  the  serpent,  1638. 
and  a  safe  retreat  for  the  feeble  in  time  of  war.     Hills 
and  rocks,  sloping  valleys,  and  verdant  plains  diversified 
the  scene,  spread  out  with  all  the  wildness  of  nature,  and 
over  all  the   Indian  roamed,  unmindful,  as  yet,  of  that 
other  race  which  was  so  soon  to  supplant  his  own. 

The  principal  tribes  of  southern  New  England  were 
the  Massachusetts  on  the  east,  the  Pokanokets  inhabiting 
the  Plymouth  region,  and  including  among  their  subordi- 
nate tribes  the  Wampanoags,  who  dwelt  around  Mount 
Hope  Bay  ;  tlie  Narragansets,  who  inhabited  nearly  all  of 
the  present  ?state  ot  Kliocte  island,  mcludmg  tlie  islands 
in  the  bay,  Block  Island,  and  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  : 
ajid  the_Pequots,  who  with  the  Mohegans,  with  whom 
they  soon  became  blended,  occupied  the  whole  of  Con- 
necticut! \V  est  ward  of  these  m  JNew  iork  were  the  sav- 
age  tribes  of  Mohawks,  part  of  the  Six  Nations,  who  were 
accused  of  being  cannibals,  and  were  every  where  dreaded 
for  their  cruelty.  The  great  tribes  were  ruled  by  one  or 
more  chiefs  or  sachems,  and  were  divided  into  many  sub- 
ordinate tribes,  each  with  its  own  petty  sachem  or  saga- 
more. The  Narragansets  were  at  one  time  the  most 
numerous  and  powerful  of  all  the  New  England  tribes. 
Shortly  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  a  jiestilence, 
by  some  supposed  to  have  been  the  small-pox,  and  by 
others  the  yellow  fever,  had  swept  over  the  seaboard  of  ^  " 
New  England  and  nearly  depopulated  some  of  the  tribes.'  1613, 
Prior  to  this  the  Narragansets  had  extended  their  con- 
quests over  all  the  eastern  tribes,  and  at  that  time  their 
dominion  spread  from  the  Pawcatuck  River  to  the  Merri- 
mack. The  Massachusetts  and  the  Pokanokets  paid 
them  tribute,  as  did  the  Montauk  Indians  of  Long  Island. 
Wonumetonomy,  Sachem  of   Aquedneck,  confessed   the 

'  Gookin's  Indians  of  N.  England,  chap.  2. 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   sovereignty  of  the  Narragansets.     The  Niantics  around 
,^,,^^  Pawcatuck  River^  whose  sachem  was  Ninnigret,  a  por- 
1613.  tion  of  the  wandering  Nipmueks  to  the  north  and  west, 
and  the  tribes  of  Pumham  and  Scconoco,  inhabiting  what 
is  now  Kent  County,  were  all  subsidiary  to  and  formed 
a  portion  of  the  great  Narraganset  tribe,   whose  chief 
sachems  were  the  sage  and  peaceful  Canonicus  and  his 
high-souled  nephew^Miantipomi.     How  long  the  empire 
of  the  Narragansets  had  TSeen  established  over  t-lie  otheif 
subject  tribes  is  unknown.     At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of 
the  English  it  had  reached  its  culminating  point.     That 
they  w^ere  a  proud  and  martial  race  is  proved  by  the  ex- 
tent of  their  conquests.     These  were  savage  virtues  in 
which  at  one  time  certainly  the  Narragansets  held  pre- 
eminence.    The  empire  which  the  valor  of  his  predeces- 
sors had  acquired,  was  preserved  by  the  wisdom  of  Canon- 
icus,  until  the  English  emigration  gave  opportunity  to 
the  Pokanokets  gradually  to  withdraw  their  allegiance, 
and  seek  the  dangerous  friendship  of  the  colonists.     The 
policy  of  Canonicus  was  peace,  and  was  pursued  so  far  as 
the  warlike  spirit  of  his  neighbors  would  permit.     Under 
it  the  Narragansets  became  the   most  commercial  and 
civilized  of  any  of  the  natives,  and  on  this  account  they 
were  taunted  by  the  hostile  Pequots.     At  one  time  the 
Narragansets  could  bring  over  five  thousand  warriors  into 
the  field, '  and  one  would  meet  a  dozen  of  their  towns  in 
the  course  of  twenty  miles  travel.'^    Their  weapons  were  the 
bow  and  arrow  and  club.     It  was  not  till  intercourse  with 
Europeans  had  made  them  acquainted  vnth.  the  use  of 
metals  that  hatchets  were   used,  which  being  placed   on 
the  end  of  their  clubs  formed  the  dreaded  tomahawk  that 
has  since  become  the  adopted  .  emblem  of  Indian  warfare. 
Two  years  after  the  English  landed  at  Plymouth  the  Naj-- 
ragansets  sent  to  them,  by  way  of  challenge,  a  bundle 

'  Gookin's  Indians  of  New  England,  chap.  2. 
^  Key  to  the  Indian  language,  chap.  1. 


1622. 


INDIAN    CHARACTERISTICS.  75 

of  arrows  tied  with  a  snake  skin.'     The  tomahawk  was   chap. 
of  later  date,  and  the  horrible  custom  among  the  Indians   .^.^J^ 
of  scalping  their  prisoners  was  taught  them  by  the  French,   l  'i  "^  ^ 
before  which  time  the  heads  of  their  victims  were  taken 
as  trophies.^ 

The  natives  are  described,  by  one  who  knew  them  well, 
as  being  of  two  sorts.  The  better  class  were  sober  and 
grave,  yet  cheerful,  and  as  ready  to  begin  as  to  return  a 
salute  upon  meeting  the  English,  while  the  lower  class,  of 
whom  the  more  obscure  had  no  names,  were  more  rude 
and  clownish  and  rarely  saluted  first,  "  but  upon  salutation 
re-salute  lovingly."  ^  Their  mode  of  doing  obeisance  to 
an  offended  sachem  was  by  stroking  him  upon  both  his 
shoulders,  and  using  a  word  which  signified  "  I  pray  your 
favor."  ^  Hospitality  and  a  grateful  remembrance  of 
kindness,  proportionate  to  their  vindictive  resentment  for 
injuries  received,  were  marked  traits  of  Indian  character. 
They  freely  shared  their  scanty  meals  with  the  j)assing 
stranger,  and  extended  to  him  the  protection  of  their 
wigwams,  often,  with  a  delicacy  that  finds  no  parallel  in 
civilized  life,  sleeping  out  of  doors  themselves  to  allay  the 
fears  or  promote  the  comfort  of  their  temporary  guests. 
Their  domestic  feelings  were  very  strong.  So  dearly  did 
they  hold  the  tie  of  brotherhood  that  it  was  usual  for  the 
survivor  to  pay  the  debts  of  a  deceased  brother,  and  the 
brother  of  an  escaped  murderer  was  executed  in  his  stead 
as  full  atonement  for  the  crime.  Their  fondness  for  their 
children  was  carried  to  an  excess  that  made  them  unruly 
and  disobedient.  Orphans  were  always  provided  for,  and 
beggaiy  was  unknown  among  them.  Marriage  was  publicly 
solemnized  by  consent  of  the  parents.  Fornication  was 
not  considered  criminal  in  single  persons,  but  adultery  was 
severely  condemned.     The  injured  party  might  claim  a 

W'inslow,  in  Prince,  p.  200. 

Niles'  Hist,  of  French  and  Indian  Wars,  p.  174  in  3  M.  H.  C.  v.  6.  Tlie 
French  learned  it  from  the  Huns.     ^  Key  to  the  Indian  language,  chap.  i. 


76  HISTORY    OF    THE    SPATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

divorce,  and  if  the  woman  was  false,  the  hiishand,  in 
presence  of  witnesses,  might  beat  the  offender  without 
I  0  2  2.  resistance  on  his  part,  and  if  death  resulted  from  the 
punishment  it  was  not  revenged.  Polygamy-was  toler- 
ated, but  among  the  Narragansets  monogamy  prevailed. 
Do\vex  was  given  by  the  husband  to  the  parents  of  the 
maid,  or  if  he  were  poor  his  friends  contributed  for  him. 
Divorce  was  permitted,  as  among  the  Jews,  for  other 
causes  than  adultery.  The  Indians  w<?re  very  prolific,  and 
as  usual  among  savage  nations  where  the  women  till  the 
ground  and  perform  the  severest  manual  labor,  the  pains 
of  childbirth  were  very  light.  The  proportion  of  deaths 
in  infancy  was  larger  than  among  the  English,  from  the 
want  of  proper  treatment  and  ignorance  of  medicine.  In 
sickness  they  used  such  simple  remedies  as  experience 
had  taught  them,  and  which  their  Powwaws,  or  priests, 
or  medicine  men,  dispensed,  accompanied  with  hideous 
singing  and  howling,  in  which  the  rest  of  the  people 
joined,  until  the  patient  either  recovered  or  expired.  The 
Powwaws  extorted  large  sums  for  these  services,  often  to 
the  ruin  of  their  patients.  The  principal  treatment  in 
use  among  them  was  the  sweat  bath,  which  was  taken  in 
this  manner.  A  small  cave  made  in  the  side  of  a  hill  near 
some  brook,  was  heated  with  wood  placed  over  a  heap 
of  stones  in  the  middle  ;  when  the  fire  was  removed  the 
stones  still  retained  great  heat.  Small  parties  of  Indians 
then  stripped  themselves  and  entered  the  cave,  sitting 
around  the  hot  stones  for  an  hour  or  more,  smoking  and  talk- 
ing, while  a  profuse  perspiration  opened  every  pore,  cleans- 
ing the  skin  and  often  removing  the  sources  of  disease. 
Emerging  from  the  cave  in  this  condition  they  would 
plunge  into  the  brook,  whether-  in  summer  or  winter,  and 
receive  no  harm  from  this  sudden  and  violent  transition.' 
When  one  was  taken  ill  the  women  of  the  family  black- 

'  Among  the  Tartar  tribes   of  Siberia  and  in  Lapland    the  same  severe 
treatment  is  in  common  use,  particularly  foi  fevers. 


INDIAN    FUNERAL    RITES.  77 

ened  their  faces  with  soot,  and  when  death  ensued  all  the  chap, 
men  of  the  neighborhood  adopted  the  same  peculiar  style  JL^^ 
of  mourning,  smearing  their  faces  thick  with  soot,  which  16  2  2. 
was  continued  for  several  weeks,  or  if  the  deceased  was  a 
distinguished  person,  for  a  whole  year.  Their  visits  of 
condolence  were  not  less  remarkable  than  the  mode  and 
length  of  their  lamentations.  They  were  frequently 
made,  and  were  always  accompanied  by  patting  the  cheek 
and  head  of  the  afflicted  parties,  and  bidding  them  "  be 
of  good  cheer."  Their  burial  service  was  still  more  singu- 
lar. The  corpse  was  wrapt  in  mats  or  coats,  answering 
to  our  winding  sheets.  This  was  a  sacred  duty  not  to  be 
performed  by  a  common  person,  but  devolving  upon  some 
one  who  was  held  in  high  esteem.  The  body  was  then 
laid  beside  the  grave  and  all  sat  down  to  bewail  their  loss 
for  some  time.  The  corpse  \yas  then  placed  in  the  grave, 
and  sometimes  some  of  the  personal  effects  of  the  de- 
ceased were  buried  with  him.  A  second  lamentation  was 
then  held  over  the  grave,  and  upon  it  was  spread  the  mat 
upon  which  the  person  had  died  and  the  dish  from  which 
he  ate.  Often  too  his  coat  of  skin  was  hung  upon  a  tree 
nearest  the  grave,  and  there  left  to  decay,  as  a  sacred 
thing  which  it  would  be  sacrilege  to  touch.  In  the  case 
of  the  death  of  a  prince  the  ceremonies  were  yet  more 
striking.  Canonicus,  after  the  burial  of  his  son,  burned 
his  own  residence  with  all  its  contents,  of  great  value,  in 
solemn  remembrance  of  the  dead,  and  as  a  kind  of 
humble  expiation  to  the  gods  who  had  thus  bereaved 
him.  The  Indians  carefully  avoided  mentioning  the 
name  of  a  deceased  person,  but  emjjloyed  some  circumlo- 
cution when  referring  to  the  dead.  If  a  stranger  acci- 
dentally spoke  the  name  of  such  he  was  checked,  and 
whoever  wilfully  named  him  was  fined.  If  any  man  bore 
the  name  of  the  dead  he  immediately  changed  his  name, 
and  so  far  was  this  idea  carried,  that  between  diflFerent 
tribes  the  naming  of  their  departed  Sachems  was  held  as 
a  jtist  cause  of  war. 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

In  religion  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  Indians 
were  Polytheists  or  Pantheists.  They  imagined  a  God  in 
16  22.  every  locality  and  connected  with  every  phenomenon  of 
nature.  Roger  Williams  obtained  the  names  of  thirty- 
seven  of  their  deities,  to  all  of  which  they  prayed  in  their 
solemn  worship.  Their  great  God  Cowtantowit- lived  in 
the  southwest,  the  region  of  balmy  airs.  From  him  came 
their  grain  and  fruits,  and  to  his  home  sped  the  souls  of 
their  virtuous  dead  to  enjoy  an  eternity  of  sensual  blise, 
while  the  spirits  of  the  wicked  waiid^red_jidtliout-j:est. 
Here  we  find  the  doctrine  of  the^^IgLmortjlity  of  the_SQuL__ 
entertained  by  a  barbarous  race  who  affirmed  that  they  re- 
ceived it  from  their  ancestors,  and  whose  connection  with 
civilized  nations  had  not  then  been  sufficient  to  account 
for  its  existence  in  that  way.  They  were  ignorant  of 
Revelation,  yet  here  was  Plato's  great  problem  solved  in 
the  American  wilderness,  and  believed  by  all  the  aborigi- 
nes of  the  West. 

What  connection  subsisted  between  Cowtantowit  and 
their  many  other  Gods  does  not  appear.  It  is  probable 
that  their  religious  system  was  too  vague  and  undefined 
to  admit,  even  in  their  own  minds,  of  any  fixed  relation- 
ship among  their  deities.  But  Cowtantowit  certainly  held 
the  placj  of  a  Supreme  Being,  clothed  with  all  the  attri- 
butes of  Deity,  while  the  existence  and  nature  of  their 
many  other  Gods  argues  a  si)ecies  of  pantheism  which 
minds  so  clear  and  thoughtful,  unaided  by  higher  knowl- 
edge, yet  capable  of  evolving  the  idea  of  the  soul's  im- 
mortality, might  readily  adopt.  They  acknowledged  the 
power  and  agency  of  their  Deity  in  all  things  whether 
good  or  ill.  If  a  child  died  their  God  was  angry,  and 
was  entreated  to  withhold  his  chastening  hand  from  the 
surviving  off'spring.  If  an  accident  occurred,  the  wrath 
of  God  occasioned  it  ;  and  so  in  case  of  good  fortune  they 
returned  thanks  to  God  for  the  blessing.  In  the  time  of 
disaster,  and  after  a  plentiful  harvest  or  successful  hunt, 


INDIAN    DIVERSIONS.  79 

or  on  the  occasion  of  peace  or  war,  they  held  a  great  feast  chap. 

or  dance.     The   Powwaws  commenced  with  an  invocation ^J^ 

to  the  Gods,  in  which  the  people  joined  with  violent  dan-  16  2  2 
cing  and  shouting.  Always  once  a  year,  in  the  winter, 
they  held  a  great  public  feast,  or  thanksgiving,  to  Cow- 
tantowit,  for  the  fruits  of  the  harvest.  Private  feasts 
upon  particular  occasions  were  frequent,  where  besides 
feasting  the  whole  company,  a  great  amount  of  money 
and  goods  was  distributed  among  the  guests,  a  small  sum 
to  each  one,  who  as  soon  as  he  received  the  gift  went  out 
and  shouted  three  times  for  the  health  and  happiness  of 
the  donor. 

The  Indians  were  fond  of  sports  and  addicted  to  gam- 
bling, using  a  kind  of  dice  made  of  plum  stones.  Pub- 
lic games  were  often  held  in  houses  from  one  to  two  hun- 
dred feet  long,  erected  for  the  purpose,  where  many  thou- 
sands would  meet  to  dance.  Towns  would  often  meet  to 
play  against  other  towns  with  dice,  on  which  occasions 
an  arbor  or  play-house  was  built  of  long  poles  sixteen  or 
twenty  feet  high,  from  which  large  amounts  of  their  mo- 
ney, staked  on  the  game,  were  suspended,  and  two  men 
were  chosen  out  of  the  rest,  in  course,  to  play  amid  the 
shouting  of  their  abettors.  Individuals  would  often  stake 
every  thing,  their  money,  houses,  clothes,  and.  even  them- 
selves, like  the  ancient  Germans,  described  by  Tacitus,  in 
this  absorbing  vice.  Football  was  a  favorite  summer  di- 
version, when  they  would  meet,  town  against  town,  to 
contend  on  some  smooth  plain  or  sandy  shore,  and  stake 
large  sums  on  the  result. 

Hunting,  fowling  and  fishing  were  the  chief  occupa- 
tions of  the  men,  in  which  they  often  displayed  great 
skill  and  powers  of  endurance.  They  often  met  in  large 
parties  to  drive  the  woods  for  deer.  In  the  autumn  they 
took  them  in  traps,  of  which  they  had  many  kinds.  In 
fowling  they  were  expert,  being  excellent  marksmen  with 
the  bow  or  gun,  and  skilled  in  laying  snares  for  the  ducks, 


80  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  geese,  turkeys  and  other  fowl  that  abounded  on  the  sea 
,__^_^  and  shore.  Cormorants  which  frequented  the  rocks  oif 
16  2  2.  the  coast  they  would  take  in  great  quantities  at  night 
while  these  birds  were  asleep.  .  Blackbirds  caused  the 
Indians  great  annoyance  by  their  countless  numbers.  For 
protection  against  them  the  seed  was  planted  quite  deep, 
lodges  were  built  in  the  middle  of  the  cornfields,  where 
they  staid  at  sprouting  time  to  frighten  away  the  birds, 
and  hawks  were  tamed  and  kept  about  their  houses 
as  a  still  greater  security  from  the  depredation  of  the 
smaller  birds.  Crows,  although  doing  some  harm,  were 
held  in  veneration  by  the  Indians,  and  were  rarely  killed. 
They  had  a  tradition  that  a  crow  first  brought  to  them 
a  grain  of  corn  in  one  ear,  and  a  bean  in  the  other,  from 
the  fields  of  their  great  God  Cowtantowit  in  the  south- 
west, and  from  that  seed  came  all  their  corn  and  beans. 
They  were  very  fond  of  fishing,  and  would  endure  much 
hardship  in  its  pursuit.  They  chiefly  used  nets  made  of 
hemp,  setting  weirs  across  the  rivers  and  killing  the  bass 
with  their  arrows  as  they  became  entangled  in  the  meshes. 
The  -head  of  the  bass  was  considered  a  great  luxury. 
The  sturgeon  they  caught  with  a  kind  of  harpoon  of  their 
own  invention,  going  out  in  their  canoes  to  attack  it,  and 
so  highly  was  its  flesh  esteemed  by  them  that  they  would 
rarely  sell  it  to  the  English. 

Their  canoes  were  made  from  the  trunk  of  the  pine, 
oak,  or  chestnut  tree,  burnt  out  and  hewn  into  shape. 
Ten  or  twelve  days  were  required  to  complete  one.  They 
were  of  all  sizes,  carrying  from  two  to  forty  men,  and  were 
worked  with  paddles,  or  when  the  wind  was  fair  a  blanket 
raised  upon  a  pole  was  used  as  a  sail  In  these  canoes 
they  would  push  boldly  out  on  the  open  sea,  sometimes 
in  fleets  of  thirty  or  forty,  and  if  they  met  an  enemy  a 
regular  sea  fight  would  ensue.  They  were  such  expert 
swimmers  that  if  overset  two  or  three  miles  from  land 
they  would  reach  the  shore  unharmed. 


INDIAN    MANUFACTURES    AND    MONEY.  81 

The  Narragansets  were  skilled  in  the  manufacture  of  crap. 
bracelets,  stone  pipes  and  earthen  vessels,  and  were  the  ^^ 
principal  coiners  of  wampumpeage,  the  established  cur-  16  2  2. 
rency  of  the  country,  and  which  continued  to  be  so  long 
after  the  European  settlement.  This  was  of  two  sorts, 
the  white  called  wampum,  made  from  the  stem  or  stock 
of  the  periwinkle  shell,  and  valued  at  six  for  an  English 
penny,  and  the  black,  made  from  the  shell  of  the  quahawg 
or  round  clam,'  and  of  twice  the  value  of  the  white,  or 
three  for  a  penny.  The  dark  part  or  eye  of  this  shell  was 
ground  to  a  smooth  round  surface,  polished  and  drilled, 
ready  to  be  strung,^  and  thus  worn  as  a  necklace  or  brace- 
let, or  sewed  to  bits  of  cloth  and  used  as  a  girdle,  or  car- 
ried as  a  scarf  about  the  shoulders.  The  name  wampum 
or  peage  was  applied  to  both  sorts.  The  regalia  of  their 
Princes  was  made  of  these  beads,  with  the  diiferent  colors 
handsomely  blended  and  curiously  wrought  in  figures. 
The  people  living  on  the  seashore  generally  made  peage, 
and  no  license  from  the  Sachem  was  required  to  do  so. 
A  string  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  white  beads  made  a 
fathom,  and  its  ordinary  value  was  five  shillings  sterling. 
A  fathom  of  black  was  worth  two  of  white.  Before  the 
extent  of  the  fur  trade  had  reduced  the  value  of  beaver 
in  England  the  fathom  of  wampum  was  worth  ten  shil- 
lings, and  the  Indians  could  not  understand  why  their 
money,  in  consequence,  would  bring  only  half  as  much  as 
formerly.  This  currency  was  used  by  the  Indians  for  six 
hundred  miles  in  the  interior,  in  trading  among  them- 
selves, and  also  with  the  English,  French  and  Dutch, 
who  made  it  legal  tender.  This  money  was  often  coun- 
terfeited, but  the  Indians  were  quick  to  detect  the  real 
value,  requiring  an  allowance  for  defective  pieces  and  re- 
jecting the  spurious  article.  Their  trade  consisted  chictiy 
in  furs,  provisions  and  their  rude  manufactures,  wherein 
the  principle   of  division  of  labor  was  well  understood, 

^  Venus  Mercatoria.     Liuneus.  ^  JMorton's  Memorial,  Ap.  p.  388. 

VOL.  I — 6 


82  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

some  making  only  bows,  some  arrows,  some  dishes,  while 
some  hunted  and  others  fished,  and  those  on  the  seashore 
16  2  2.  made  wampum,  collecting  the  shells  in  summer  to  coin 
them  in  winter.  They  were  shrewd  at  a  bargain  and 
would  try  all  markets,  taking  their  wares  forty  or  fifty 
miles  or  more  to  secure  a  good  price,  and  being  ever  sus- 
picious of  attempts  to  deceive  them  it  required  great  pru- 
dence and  integrity  in  dealing  with  them.  They  eagerly 
sought  European  trinkets,  mirrors,  knives,  tool^  and  fire- 
arms. The  latter  it  was  forbidden  by  law  to  sell  to  them, 
but  through  the  French  and  Dutch,  and  from  unprinci- 
pled English  they  obtained  them.'  The  habit  of  beg- 
ging, which  in  their  primitive  state  was  unknown  among 
them,  they  soon  contracted  after  the  English  came,  and 
were  very  troublesome  in  that  way.  True  to  the  maxim 
that  '■'  flatterers  always  want  something,"  they  would  pre- 
face their  petition  with  some  adulation  of  the  wealth,  the 
wisdom,  or  the  valor  of  the  English.  They  were  fond  of 
running  in  debt,  and  those  who  trusted  them  usually  lost 
both  their  goods  and  their  customer.  These  habits,  to- 
gether with  drunkenness  and  gluttony,  to  none  of  which 
were  they  previously  addicted,  were  acquired  by  contact 
with  Europeans.  Still  there  were  many  fair  and  honora- 
ble traders  among  them  who  scorned  alike  to  beg  or  to 
deceive. 

Among  their  primitive  virtues  punctuality  was  promi- 
nent. The  exactness  with  which  they  kept  a  promise  in- 
volving attention  to  time  was  remarkable,  and  they  were 
slow  to  receive  excuses  from  any  who  failed  in  this  re- 
spect. They  measured  time  accurately  by  the  sun  by 
day  and  by  the  moon  or  stars  by  night,  and  divided  their 
year  into  thirteen  lunar  months.  They  had  an  intuitive 
sense  of  justice,  were  prompt  to  award  it,  and  quick  to 
retaliate  where  it  was  withheld.  If  a  robbery  occurred 
between  difi'erent  tribes  the  ofi'ended  party  demanded  jus- 

'  This  was  one  of  the  chief  complaints  against  Morton  of  Mt.  Wollaston. 


INDIAN    COUNCILS.  83 

tice,  and  if  recompense  were  refused  resort  to  reprisals  chap. 
■was  had,  yet  care  was  taken  not  to  seize  more  than  a  just  .J^^^ 
compensation  for  the  loss  sustained.     A  strict  regard  to  16  2  2. 
public  opiniim  controlled  the   action  of  their  sachems, 
whose  authority,  although  hereditary  aud  absolute,  was 
rarely  exerted,  in  important  affairs,  in  opposition  to  the 
popular   will.       Punishments,    whether    capital   or    only 
corporal,  were   usually  inflicted  by  the  sachem,  although 
sometimes,  when  a  public  execution  might  endanger  the 
peace  of  the  tribe,  the  sachem  would   send  one  of  his 
chief  warriors  secretly  to  behead  an  obnoxious  person. 

Their  love  of  news  amounted  to  a  passion.  Their 
civilized  successois  do  not  peruse  the  teeming  columns  of 
the  daily  press  with  more  avidity  than  the  red  man  wel- 
comed to  the  council  fire  or  the  wigwam  the  bearer  of 
some  novel  intelligence.  Upon  these  occasions  they 
would  all  sit  round  in  a  circle,  two  or  three  deep,  each 
man  with  his  pipe,  while  amid  profound  silence  the  news 
was  told,  or  a  consultation  was  held,  the  orator  speaking 
for  an  hour  or  more  with  earnest  language  and  impas- 
sioned gesture.  Eloquence  was  a  native  gift  with  these 
rude  sons  of  the  forest,  and  exerted  as  powerful  an  influ- 
ence upon  their  deliberations  as  ever  it  did  on  the  Gre- 
cian stage,  or  in  the  Roman  forum.  Their  mode  of  col- 
lecting an  audience,  especially  when  the  news  was  of 
great  importance,  such  as  a  declaration  of  war,  was  to 
send  swift  messengers  to  rouse  the  country,  and  at  every 
town  to  which  the  runner  came  a  fresh  messenger  was 
sent  to  the  next  town,  until  the  last,  coming  near  the 
royal  residence,  shouted  often,  every  man  who  heard  it 
taking  up  the  shout,  and  all  assembled  quickly  at  the 
council  i^lace.  The  speed  of  these  runners  was  extraor- 
dinary, owing  to  constant  training  at  races,  and  having 
their  limbs  anointed  from  infancy.  They  have  been 
known  to  run  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  miles  in  a  sum- 
mer day,  and  back  again  in  two  days.     The  farm  labor 


84  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  and  domestic  drudgery  was  performed  entirely  by  the  wo- 
^^^^j^  men,  except  on  the  breaking  up  of  new  ground,  when  the 
1  (i2  2.  whole  neighborhood,  men  and  women,  would  unite  in  the 
task.  The  women  planted,  tilled  and  harvested  the  crops 
with  little  or  no  aid  from  the  men,  dried  the  corn,  beat  if 
and  prepared  it  for  food.  They  made  all  the.  domestic 
utensils  of  earthenware,  and  would  carry  incredible  bur- 
dens of  provisions,  mats,  and  a  child  besides,  on  their 
backs.  The  tobacco  plant  alone  was  cultivajted  by  tJie 
men.  This  they  used  for  the  toothache,  to  which  they 
were  very  subject,  and  as  a  stimulant,  prizing  it  as  highly 
as  do  their  civilized  successors. 

Their  staple  article  of  food  was  Indian  corn  pounded 
to  meal  and  parched,  which  they  mixed  with  a  little  wa- 
ter. A  spoonful  of  this  preparation,  with  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  water,  would  suffice  for  a  meal.  A  small  basket 
of  it  would  support  a  man  for  many  days.  It  was  easily 
taken  on  long  journeys,  slung  to  the  back  or  carried  in  a 
leathern  girdle  about  the  loins.  Of  the  un parched  meal 
they  made  a  pottage  called  "  nassaumj),"  whence  the  En- 
glish, name  "  samp,"  the  same  which  in  New  England  is 
now  called  hasty  pudding  or  mush.  Chestnuts  they  dried 
and  preserved  the  year  round  as  a  luxury.  Acorns  also 
were  used  when  there  was  a  scarcity  of  corn,  or  for  a  va- 
riety. They  extracted  the  oil  from  \  alnuts  and  used  it 
in  cooking  and  also  for  anointing  their  persons.  Straw- 
berries were  very  abundant,  and  during  the  season  they 
lived  almost  wholly  upon  a  delicious  bread  made  by  bruis- 
ing them  in  a  mortar  and  mixing  them  with  meal. 
Whortleberries  and  currants  were  dried'  and  kept  the 
year  round  ;  beaten  to  powder  and  mixed  witli  their 
parched  meal  they  made  a  favorite  kind  of  cake.  Sum- 
mer or  bush  squashes,  of  which  the  Indian  name  was 
askuta-squash,  and  beans,  which  next  to  corn  was  their 
principal  dependence,  were  much  used.  The  sea  and  the 
forest  supplied  them  with  an   alnmdance  of  animal  food. 


INDIAN    WIGWAMS,  85 

Their  venison  and  other  meats  were  dried  in  the  sun  and  chap. 
smoked  for  winter  use,  as   were  some  varieties  of  fish.  ^l:^. 
But  of  all  their  different  sorts  of  food   none  were  more  i  "j  2  2. 
highly  esteemed  than  clams.     In  all  seasons  of  the  year, 
at  low  tide,  the  women  dug  for  them  on  the  sea-shore. 
The  natural  juices  of  this  shellfish  served  them  in  place 
of  salt  as  a  seasoning  for  their  broth,  their  nassaump  and 
their  bread,  while  the  tenderness  and  delicacy  of  the  flesh 
have  preserved  its  popularity  to  this  day,  amid  all  the 
culinary  devices   of  an  advanced  civilization.      Whales, 
sometimes  sixty  feet  in  length,  were  often  cast  up  on  the 
shores,  and  being  cut  in  pieces  were  sent  far  and  near  as 
a  most  j)alatable  present. 

Their  wigwams  were  made  with  long  poles,  usually 
set  in  a  circle  and  drawn  nearly  together  at  the  upper 
end,  leaving  a  hole  at  the  top  to  serve  the  double  pur- 
pose of  a  window  and  chimney.  This  part  was  the  work 
of  the  men.  The  covering  and  lining  was  done  by  the 
women.  The  summer  houses  were  covered  with  birch  or 
chestnut  bark  finely  dressed  ;  the  winter  ones  with  thick 
mats  woven  by  the  women.  The  interior  was  lined  with 
mats  fancifully  embroidered.  A  house  of  sixteen  feet 
diameter  would  accommodate  two  families.  Some  of  the 
houses  were  oblong,  and  were  designated  by  the  number 
of  fires  that  could  be  made  in  them.  The  entrance  was 
closed  by  a  hanging  mat,  although  sometimes  a  door  was 
made  of  bark.  They  rarely  fastened  their  wigwams,  ex- 
cept when  about  to  leave  the  town,  in  which  case  the  last 
one  secured  it  on  the  inside  by  a  cord  and  got  out  at  the 
chimney.  It  was  a  universal  custom,  which  all  the  In- 
dians strictly  observed,  to  have  small  detached  houses 
where  the  women  dwelt  secluded  during  the  term  of  their 
monthly  sickness,  and  no  male  ever  entered  these  wig- 
wams.'      Their    household   furniture    consisted  of  large 

'  It  is  very  remarkable  that,  of  all  other  nations  of  whom  we   have  any 
knowledge,  the  Jews  alone  held  to  this  singular  custom. 


86  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  hemp  sacks,  baskets,  mats  and  earthenware,  the  products 
^^,^^,.1^  of  female  industry.  They  often  removed  their  houses,  in 
1622.  summer  and  winter,  and  for  convenience  in  hunting,  oi 
for  their  agricultural  labors,  and  always  when  a  death  oc- 
curred among  them.  The  mats  were  easily  transported, 
so  that  setting  new  poles  was  the  only  labor  attending  a 
removal,  and  a  few  hours  sufficed  to  accomplish  the  whole. 
Of  their  houses  erected  for  public  purposes  we  have  al- 
ready written.  They  were  larger  and  often  moi'e  loosely 
constructed  than  their  wigwams.  The  great  council 
house  of  the  Narragansets  was  fifty  feet  in  'diameter. 

In  jiersonal  appearance  the  Indians  were  very  erect, 
with  firm,  compact  bodies,  high  cheek  bones,  hazel  eyes, 
straight  black  hair  and  light  copper-colored  complexion. 
They  painted  their  faces,  chiefly  with  a  red  pigment 
prepared  from  clay  or  the  bark  of  the  pine  tree,  the 
women  for  ornament,  and  the  men,  in  war,  to  appear 
more  terrible  to  their  enemies.  During  the  period  of 
mourning,  as  before  related,  they  besmeared  their  faces 
with  soot  or  lampblack,  and  refrained  from  painting  for 
decoration. 

The  Indian  languages  were  remarkably  rich  and  co- 
pious, regular  in  their  inflections,  and  susceptible  of  com- 
binations beyond  almost  any  other  knowm  tongue.  The 
native  languages  of  North  America  have  been  reduced  to 
four  classes  :  1,  the  Karalit,  of  the  Esquimaux  ;  2,  the 
Delaware,  of  the  East  ;  3,  the  Iroquois,  of  the  West,  and 
4,  the  Floridian,  of  the  Gulf  regions.  They  were  divided 
into  numerous  dialects,  of  which  those  of  New  England 
were  considered  as  varieties  of  the,  Delaware.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  Narragansets,  to  which  Roger '  Williams' 
Key  is  devoted,  was  spoken,  with  more  or  less  of  idiomatic 
variation,  over  a  region  of  country  extending  north  and 
south  from  Rhode  Island  about  six  hundred  miles. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  aborigines  of  Rhode 
Island  when  a  new  and  discordant  element  was  engrafted 


MURDER    OF    OLDHAM    AND    OTHERS.  87 

nn  their  social  and  political  system  by  the  advent  of  the   chap. 
English.     Massasoit  was  the  first   to  recognize  the    im-   _,_ 
portance  of  this  new  element,  and  hy  formal  treaty,  to  102  1. 
enlist  the  English  upon  his  side,  in  throwing  off  the  yoke     22 
of  the  Narragansets  ;  a   treaty  which  his  tribe  preserved 
inviolate  for  more   than  half  a  century,   and  was  only 
ruptured  when  the  fiery  spirit  of  Philip  of  Pokanoket,  the 
younger  son  of  Massasoit,  could  no  longer  brook  the  wrong 
and  outrage  heaped  upon  him  by  the  whites.     The  Nar- 
ragansets viewed  with  a  jealous  eye  this  dangerous  alli- 
ance, and  threatened  the  English  ^Nith  hostihties  ;  but  1622, 
the  bold  attitude  of  the  colonists  averted  the  danger.  Jan. 

The  Pequots,  the  ancient  enemies  of  the  Narragansets, 
perhaps  emboldened  by  the  partial  defection  of  the  east- 
ern Indians,  and  by  the  fact  that  Miantinomi,  the  younger 
sachem  of  the  Narragansets,  was  in  his  minority,  em- 
braced every  opportunity  to  make  war  against  them. 
Block  Island  and  Montauk  fell  into  their  hands,  and 
the  Pequot  conquest  was  extended  ten  miles  east  of 
Pawcatuck  river.  But  a  fatal  disaster  was  soon  to  over-  16  3  2. 
whelm  the  Pequot  tribe  and  to  efface  their  name  from  off 
the  earth.  A  number  of  murders  had  been  committed 
in  which  it  was  proved  that  they  had  participated,  either 
directly  or  by  affordmg  shelter  to  the  perpetrators.  One 
Captain  Stone  and  his  entire  crew  of  ten  men,  in  a  ship 
from  Virginia,  trading  on  the  Connecticut  river,  were 
murdered  while  asleep,  and  during  a  few  months  sue-  1633. 
c  ceding  the  death  of  Oldham  some  twenty  more  were 
tortured  and  killed  on  Connecticut  river.  The  murder  ^j^|^.^' 
of  John  Oldham  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Pequot 
war.  He  was  a  daring  trader  with  the  Indians,  and  was 
perhaps  the  first  Englishman  who  contemplated  settling 
in  Rhode  Island.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  by  the  In- 
dians that  Chibacuwese,  afterwards  sold  to  Gov.  Win- 
throp  and  Roger  Williams  and  called  Prudence  Island, 
was  freely  offered  to  him  as  an  inducement  to  establish 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   himself  among  them,     Oldham,  with  two  English  boys 
.^.,__,  and  two.  Narraganset  Indians,  had  been  upon  a  trading 
16  3  0.  voyage  to  the  Connecticut  river  ;  on  his  return,  touching 
at   Block   Island,  he  was  murdered  and  his  companions 
carried  off.     John  Gallup,  who  was  also  returning  from 
the  river  in  a  small  vessel,  seeing  Oldham's  boat  full  of 
Indians  near  the  island,   bore  up  for  it.      The   Indians 
made  sail  for  the  main  land,  but  Gallup   gallantly  pur- 
sued them  and,  after  a  sharp  contest,  boarded  the  craft', 
driving  most  of  the  enemy  into  the  sea.     The  mangled 
corpse  of  Oldham  was  found  on  board.     His  companions 
and  most  of  the  goods  had  already  been  taken  away. 
Jnly  "pije  news  of  this  outrasre  reachino;  Boston  caused  great 

20.  o  o  o 

excitement.  In  a  few  days  a  deputation,  including  the 
26.  two  Indians  who  were  with  Oldham,  arrived  from  Canon- 
icus  with  a  letter  from  Roger  Williams  to  Gov.  Vane, 
concerning  the  tragedy,  and  soon  afterwards  the  two  boys 
were  safely  returned  to  their  homes,  with  another  letter 
from  Mr.  Williams,  stating  that  Miantinomi  had  sent  an 
expedition  to  Block  Island  to  recover  the  boys  and  the 
property,  and  to  avenge  the  murder  of  Oldham.  An 
embassy  accompanied  by  Catshamekin,  sachem  of  the 
Ang.  Massachusetts,  as  interpreter,  was  sent  to  Canonicus  to 
treat  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the  murder.  Upon  their 
return  they  reported  "  good  success  in  their  business," 
and  that  "  they  observed  in  the  sachem  much  state,  great 
command  over  his  men,  and  marvellous  wisdom  in  his 
answers  and  in  the  carriage  of  the  whole  treaty,  clearing 
himself  and  his  neighbors  of  the  murder,  and  offering  as- 
sistance for  revenge  of  it,  yet  upon  very  safe  and  wary 
conditions."  It  was  proved  that  some  of  the  Narragan- 
set sachems  had  been  in  the  .plot,  but  that  their  chiefs, 
Canonicus  and  Miantinomi,  were  not  concerned  in  it. 

An  expedition,  consisting  of  ninety  volunteers,  under 
command  of  John  Endicott,  was  forthwith  equipped  to 
demand  satisfaction  of  the  Indians.     They  embarked  in 


30. 


8. 
13. 


ATTACK    ON    THE    PEQUOTS.  89 

tlu'ee  pinnaces,  with  orders  to  take   Block  Island,  and   chap 
tlience  to  proceed  to  the  Pequot   country  to   secure  the  .Jl^. 
murderers  of  Captain  Stone,  to  obtain  indemnity  for  the  1636 
crime,  and  hostages  for  the  future  good  conduct  of  the    ^25f 
Pequots?    After  a  short  skirmish  they  landed  on  the  isl- 
and,   where  they  remained  two  days,  and  having  burnt 
the  wigwams  and  staved  the  canoes,  they  left  for    the 
Connecticut   river.     At   Saybrook  they  received  a  rein- 
forcement of  twenty  men  and  sailed  for  the  Pequot  har- 
bor, at  the  mouth  of  Thames  river.     Sassacus,  the  chief 
sachem,  was  absent  at  Long  Island.     A  skirmish  ensued, 
in  which  some  of  the  Indians  were  killed,  their  town  was 
burned,  and  the  next  day  the  wigwams  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  were  destroyed,  and  the  canoes  broken 
up,  after  which  the  expedition  returned  in  safety  to  Bos- 
ton without  the  loss  of  a  man.     By  this  affair  the  Pequots      14. ' 
had  fourteen  killed  and  forty  wounded,  and  were  greatly 
exasperated.     The   policy  of  this  hostile  expedition  has 
been  severely  condemned  by  Lieut.  Gardiner,  commander 
of  Fort   Saybrook,  in  his  history  of  the  war.     Had  the 
instructions  to  Endicott  limited  his  powers  to  the  Oldham 
matter,  the  settlers  of  Connecticut  might  not  have  suf- 
fered so  much  from  the  fury  of  the  Indians.     The  gov- 
ernor of  Plymouth  remonstrated  with  the  Massachusetts 
authorities  for  ha^^ng  needlessly  provoked  a  war. 

But  the  mischief  was  already  done.  The  Pequots 
were  thoroughly  roused,  and  wreaked  their  vengeance,  in 
the  ensuing  winter,  upon  the  defenceless  inhabitants  of 
Connecticut.  They  also  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Narra- 
gansets,  with  whom  they  had  been  in  perpetual  enmity, 
offering  to  bury  the  hatchet,  and  proposing  a  league  with 
them  and  the  Mohegans  to  effect  the  utter  destruction  of 
the  Enghsh,  and  thereby  to  avert  the  calamity  which 
they  foresaw  must  soon  annihilate  the  Indian  race.  It 
was  a  perilous  hour  for  New  England  when  the  envoys  of 
Sassacus  opened  their  negotiations  with  the  assembled 


90  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  court  of  their  ancient  foe,  the  wary  and  thoughtful  Ca- 
^^_^_;_,  nonicus.  Eight  was  on  the  side  of  the  Pequots — the  right 
16  3  6.  to  the  lordship  of  the  soil,  in  which  the  rapid  encroach- 
ment of  the  whites  must  soon  restrict  them.  National 
existence  depended  upon  a  prompt  and  united  effort  to 
extirj^ate  the  race  Avhose  moral  superiority  was  •  already 
asserted  in  reducing  the  aboriginal  princes  of  the  eastern 
tribes  to  a  state  of  vassalage.  Life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,  the  same  considerations  whioii  in  the 
next  century  were  urged  as  the  inalienable  rights  of  man, 
in  the  struggle  with  the  mother  country,  were  as  clearly 
understood  by  the  Indians,  and  were  no  less  dear  to  them 
than  to  their  enemies,  w^hile  to  these  arguments  there  was 
the  added  bitterness  of  a  conflict  of  races.  Every  in- 
ducement that  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  case 
was  skilfully  employed  by  the  Pequot  emissaries  to  attain 
their  end.  The  decision  was  one  that  involved  results 
equally  momentous  to  the  Indians  and  the  English,  and 
already  the  truthful  eloquence  of  the  Pequots  seemed 
about  to  prevail  in  the  wavering  council  of  the  Narragan- 
sets.  - 
Qg(^  At   this   imminent    crisis  Roger  Williams  appeared 

among  them.  He  was  the  only  man  in  New  England 
who  could  avert  the  imj)ending  evil.  His  own  life,  and 
I  that  of  the  few  who  were  with  him,  was  secure  in  the 
love  of  the  Narragansets.  Still,  though  smarting  under 
the  injuries  of  recent  oppression,  he  threw  himself  be- 
tween his  own  persecutors  and  their  relentless  foes.  At 
the  risk  of  his  life,  from  the  Pequot  tomahawks  and  the 
perils  of  the  way,  he  sought  the  wigwam  of  Canonicus, 
and  accomplished,  what  a  high  authority  has  pronounced 
1 "  the  most  intrepid  and  most  successful  achievement  of 
the  whole  war  ;  an  action  as  perilous  in  its  execution  as 
it  was  fortunate  in  its  issue."'  At  the  earnest  request 
of  the  Boston  magistrates,  now  seriously  alarmed  at  the 

'  1  Bancroft,  398. 


Williams's  mission  to  the  narragansets.  91 

aspect  of  affairs,  Williams  undertook  this  dangerous  mis-  chap. 
sion.  His  own  words  can  best  describe  the  nature  and  .^^.1^ 
result  of  his  labors  : —  1 6  3  G. 

"  Upon  letters  received  from  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil at  Boston,  requesting  me  to  use  my  utmost  and  speed- 
iest endeavors  to  break  and  hinder  the  league  labored  for 
by  the  Pequots  and  Mohegans  against  the  English,  (ex- 
cusing the  not  sending  of  company  and  supplies  by  the 
haste  of  the  business,)  the  Lord  helped  me  immediately 
to  put  my  life  into  my  hand,  and  scarce  acquainting  my 
wife,  to  ship  myself  alone,  in  a  poor  canoe,  and  to  cut 
through  a  stormy  wind,  with  great  seas,  every  minute  in 
hazard  of  life,  to  the  sachem's  house.  Three  days  and 
nights  my  business  forced  me  to  lodge  and  mix  with  the 
bloody  Pequot  ambassadors,  whose  hands  and  arms,  me- 
thought,  reeked  with  the  blood  of  my  countrymen,  mur- 
dered and  massacred  by  them  on  Connecticut  river,  and 
from  whom  I  could  not  but  nightly  look  for  their  bloody 
knives  at  my  own  throat  also.  Grod  wondrously  preserved 
me,  and  helped  me  to  break  to  pieces  the  Pequots'  nego- 
tiation and  design  ;  and  to  make  and  finish,  by  many  trav- 
els and  charges,  the  EngHsh  league  with  the  Narragan- 
sets and  Mohegans  against  the  Pequots."' 

^  Letter  to  Maj.  Mason.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  Winthrop  alone,  of  all 
the  old  writers  upon  this  war,  makes  any  mention  of  the  part  performed  by 
Roger  Williams  in  averting  a  fatal  catastrophe.  Had  not  the  well-laid  plan 
of  the  Pequots  been  frustrated  by  the  infliience  of  Williams,  the  result  of  this 
earliest  American  war  of  extermination  would,  according  to  all  human  cal- 
culation, have  been  reversed.  Yet  none  of  the  Massachusetts  historians,  be- 
fore the  present  day,  have  had  the  candor  to  admit  the  fact.  We  can  excuse 
the  military  writers.  Mason,  Underbill,  Vincent  and  Gardiner,  for  the  omis- 
sion, as  they  aim  chiefly  to  describe  the  active  hostilities  in  which  themselves 
bore  a  part  ;  but  that  Morton,  Hubbard,  Johnson,  Mather,  Hutchinson,  and 
others,  who  give  a  more  or  less  detailed  account  of  thf<  negotiations  connected 
with  the  war  should  omit  all  mention  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  they  owed  to  the 
founder  of  Rhode  Island  upon  that  occasion,  is  somewhat  remarkable.  Even  the 
liberal  Prince  in  his  preface  to  Mason's  history  simply  says,  '*  An  agency  from 
the  Massachusetts  colony  to  the  Narragansets  happily  preserved  their  staggering 
friendship;"  lea\ang  us  to  apply  the  remark  either  to  the  deputation  sent  on 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  this  all-important  negotiation, 
Miantinomi,  being  sent  for  by  Grov.  Vane,  went  to  Boston, 
together  with  two  sons  of  Canonicus,  another  sachem, 
and  nearly  twenty  attendants.  He  was  received  with 
military  honors,  and  the  preliniinaiies  of  a  treaty  being 
at  once  agreed  upon,  it  was  formally  concluded  the  next 
22-  day,  when  the  Indians  were  dismissed  in  the  same  man- 
ner. It  was  a  treaty  of  amity,  and  of  aUiance,  offensive 
and  defensive  against  the  Pequots  ;  and,  becausp  the  In- 
dians could  not  perfectly  comprehend  all  the  articles,  it 
was  agreed  that  a  copy  should  be  sent  to  Mr.  Williams, 
who  could  best  interpret  it.  This  management  was  hon- 
orable alike  to  Mr.  Williams  and  to  th  i  government  of 
Massachusetts.  It  showed  the  confidence  which  both  the 
contracting  parties  placed  in  the  good  faith  of  their  in- 
terpreter, and  it  attests  the  integrity  of  the  Puritans  that 
^    they  should  submit  an  instrument  of  such  importance  to 

April  the  scrutiny  of  so  strenuous  an  advocate  of  Indian  rights. 
■^*  The   Pequots,  foiled  in  their  atterapl ,  both   with  the 

Narragansets  and  the  Mohegans,  rashly  resolved  to  pros- 
ecute .  the  war  unaided.  The  garrison  of  Fort  SaybrooK 
was  constantly  alarmed  by  their  menaces.  Capt.  Under- 
bill, with  twenty  men,  was  sent  to  the  relief  The  massa- 
cre at  Weathersfield,  where   six  were  killed   and  seven 

■^P'"'^    taken  prisoners  and  tortured,  followed  by  another  slaugh- 

AtO» 

the  8th  August,  (which  Johnson,  one  of  the  above-named  writers,  seems  to  have 
accompanied,  and  Williams  did  not,)  or  to  tlie  later  and  more  danfterous  mis- 
sion in  October,  undertaken  by  Williams  alone,  w)iose  nance,  in  either  case,  is 
not  even  mentioned.  There  is  a  maxim  of  Rochefoncault,  which  is  verified 
in  this  instance  ;  "  II  n'est  pas  si  dangereuse  de  faire  du  mal  a  la  plupart  def 
hommes,  que  de  leur  faire  trop  de  bien."  Gov.  Winthrop  and  some  of  his 
council,  in  view  of  the  signal  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Williams  throughout 
the  war,  moved  in  the  General  Court,  that  he  be  recalled  from  banishment 
and  honored  by  some  high  mark  of  favor.  The  silence  of  the  court  records 
npon  the  question  is  sii/nificant.  But  ample,  though  tardy,  justice  has  since 
been  rendered  to  the  memory  of  Williams  by  a  son  of  Massachusetts.  The 
elegant  historian  of  tlic  United  States  has  more  than  atoned  for  the  want  of 
magnanimity  in  bis  literary  predecessors,  by  the  generous  spirit  displayed  iu 
the  ninth  chapter  of  his  eloquent  work. 


DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    PEQUOTS.  93 

ter  of  nine  persons,  and  the  capture  of  two  young  girls,  chap. 
decided  the  infant  colony  of  Connecticut  to  declare  war  ._il^ 
without  delay.  Three  small  towns,  Hartford,  Windsor  163  7. 
and  Weathersfield,  which  had  been  organized  scarcely  a  ^^' 
year,  and  contained  in  all  much  less  than  two  hundred 
men,  formed  the  whole  colony  of  Connecticut.  The  Pe- 
quots  could  muster  nearly  a  thousand  warriors,  and  had 
two  fortified  villages,  one  on  the  Mystic  river,  near  the 
sea,  and  the  other  but  a  few  miles  distant,  where  Sassa- 
cus,  the  chief  sachem,  dwelt.  A  force  of  ninety  men, 
under  Capt.  John  Mason,  was  immediately  despatched  to 
the  scene  of  conflict,  accompanied  by  Uncas,  sachem  of 
the  Mohegans,  with  about  sixty  of  his  warriors.  All 
doubts  of  the  fidelity  of  these  savage  allies,  who  preceded 
the  main  body  to  Fort  Saybrook,  w^ere  speedily  dispelled. 
The  Mohegans  vanquished  a  party  of  Pequots  near  the 
fort,  and  brought  in  the  scalps  of  the  slain  as  trophies  of 
their  prowess.  From  Saybrook,  Mason,  being  reinforced 
by  Capt.  Underhill,  sent  home  twenty  of  his  troops,  while 
the  main  body  sailed  for  Narraganset  bay,  designing  to 
surprise  the  Pequots  in  the  rear.  The  forces  reached  a 
harbor  near  Wickford  on  Saturday,  passed  the  Sabbath 
in  religious  exercises,  were  detained  two  days  more  on 
board  their  vessels  by  a  northwest  gale,  and  then  after 
two  days  of  severe  march  across  the  country,  and  being 
joined  by  a  strong  force  of  the  Narragansets,  they  en- 
camped on  Thursday  night  near  Fort  Mystic. 

The  Pequots  spent  their  last  night  in  carousal,  exult- 
ing over  the  English,  who  they  supposed,  from  seeing  the 
vessels  sail  by  some  days  before,  had  abandoned  the  at- 
tack. Their  songs  were  distinctly  heard  at  the  English 
outposts  until  midnight.  At  daybreak  the  English,  in 
two  divisions,  assaulted  the  fort.  The  Indian  allies,  ex-  26. 
cept  Uncas  and  one  other,  remained  behind  through  fear  of 
their  redoubtable  foe.  The  Pequots  were  buried  in  pro- 
found  slumber.     The  crash  of  musketry  roused  them  to 


94  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

inevitable  doom,  aa  the  English,  bursting  through  the 
palisade  of  sticks  and  brushwood,  rushed  upon  them 
»G3  7.  sword  in  hand.  It  was  the  intention  to  put  the  garrison 
to  the  sword  and  to  save  the  plunder,  but  this  plan  was 
changed.  The  Indians,  as  fast  as  they  awoke  either  crept 
under  the  beds  or  fled,  when  Mason  gave  the  terrible  or- 
der, "  WE  MUST  BURN  THEM,"  and  Seizing  a  firebrand  from 
one  of  the  wigwams  applied  it  to  the  matted  roof.  A 
northeast  wind  was  blowing  at  the  time.  The  fire  spread 
with  great  rapidity,  soon  involving  the  whole  village  in 
conflagration.  Some  of  the  Pequots,  climbing  the  pali- 
sades to  escape,  were  shot  down  by  the  English  ;  others 
rushed  wildly  into  the  flames  and  perished  -by  fire  ;  a  few 
boldly  charged  upon  the  enemy  and  fell  by  the  sword. 
The  allied  Indians  were  stationed  in  a  circle  at  a  distance 
and  kiUed  with  their  arrows  the  few,  who,  fleeing  un- 
scathed from  their  fiery  furnace,  had  escaped  the  triple 
peril  of  shot  and  flame  and  steel.  The  massacre  was 
complete.  One  short  hour  had  done  the  work,  and  when 
the  sun  arose,  a  heap  of  smouldering  ruins,  over  the  man- 
gled and  crisping  corpses  of  nearly  seven  hundred  Indians, 
w^as  all  that  remained  of  this  stronghold  of  the  Pequots. 
Men,  women,  and  children  fell  alike  in  this  indiscriminate 
and  wholesale  slaughter.  Of  the  hundreds  who  an  hour 
before  were  slumbering  in  fancied  security,  seven  only 
were  taken  captive  aud  but  seven  escaped.  The  loss  of 
the  English  was  but  two  killed  and  twenty  w^ounded. 

As  they  were  leaving  the  ground  a  party  of  three  hun- 
dred Indians  from  the  otlier  fort  advanced  to  the  attack, 
ignorant  of  the  fate  of  their  comrades.  Upon  reaching 
the  spot  they  gave  way  to  the  wildest  demonstrations  of 
grief,  and  then  rushing  down  the  hill,  charged  upon  the 
retiring  English  whose  ammunition  was  nearly  exhausted. 
A  few  skirmishers  sufliced  to  keep  them  at  bay,  while  the 
English  reached  the  harbor  just  as  their  vessels,  coming 
round  from  Narraganset,  had  entered  it.     There  they  met 


CLOSE   OF   THE   WAR.  95 

Capt.  Patric  witli  forty  Massachusetts  troops.  Underhill  chap. 
placed  the  wounded  on  board  a  vessel  and  sailed  for  ,^..^.1^ 
Connecticut  river.  The  remaining  troops  marched  across  16  3  7 
the  country,  and  were  "  nobly  entertained  by  Lieut.  Gard-  ^27."^ 
ner  with  many  great  guns,"  upon  reaching  Fort  Saybrook 
the  next  evening.  A  day  of  thanksgiving  for  this  signal  J"|^® 
victory  was  held  in  all  the  churches. 

About  a  month  after  the  battle  of  Mystic  Capt. 
Staughton  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  arrived  in 
Pequot  river  to  continue  the  war,  and  was  joined  by  Ma- 
son with  forty  men  from  Connecticut.  The  remnant  of 
the  Pequot  tribe  concealed  themselves  in  swamps  or  fled 
to  the  westward.  One  of  their  hiding-places  was  broken 
up  and  one  hundred  Indians  taken.  The  men  were  killed, 
the  women  and  cljildren  distributed  among  the  Narragan- 
sets,  and  sent  to  Boston  as  slaves.  The  troops  pursued 
the  main  body  of  the  fugitives  to  a  swamp  near  New 
Haven.  Surrounding  the  swamp  they  held  a  parley  with 
the  Indians,  resulting  in  the  surrender  of  the  old  men, 
women  and  children,  not  belonging  to  the  Pequot  tribe,  juiy 
to  the  number  of  two  hundred.  The  warriors  resolved  to  ^^• 
fight  it  out,  and  some  sixty  of  them  succeeded  during  the 
night  in  breaking  through  the  English  lines,  after  an  ob- 
stinate struggle,  and  effected  their  escape.  One  hundred 
and  eighty  were  taken  prisoners.  In  this  fight  it  is  said 
that  a  few  of  the  Indians  had  fire-arms,  which  is  the  first 
account  we  have  of  their  use  by  the  natives. 

This  encounter  virtually  closed  the  war.  Sassacus,  the 
great  sachem,  whose  name  but  a  few  months  before  had 
been  a  terror  to  both  whites  and  Indians  in  New  Eng- 
land, was  murdered,  with  twenty  of  his  men,  by  the  Mo- 
hegans,  to  whom  he  fled  for  shelter,  and  a  part  of  his  skin  with 
a  lock  of  his  hair  was  sent  as  a  welcome  present  to  Bos- 
ton. The  Massachusetts  troops  returned  home  with  only  ^^^ 
the  loss  of  one  man.  The  Pequots  now  became  a  prey  to 
their  savage  foes  and  were  hunted  down  like  wolves,  the 


96  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

allied  Indians  daily  bringing  in  their  heads  or  hands  to  the 
English.  A  general  thanksgiving  was  observed  through- 
out New  England  for  the  successful  termination  of  the 
war.  The  miserable  remnant  of  the  tribe  delivered  them- 
selves up  at  Hartford  on  condition  that  their  lives  should 
be  spared.  More  than  eight  hundred  had  been  slain  in  the 
war,  and  less  than  two  hundred  remained  to  share  the 
fate  of  captives.  These  were  distributed  among  the  Nar- 
I  f;  3  3  ragansets  and  Mohegans,  with  the  pledge  jthat  they 
Sept.  should  no  more  be  called  Pequots,  nor  inhabit  their  na- 
tive country  again.'  To  make  the  annihilation  of  the  race 
yet  more  complete,  their  very  name  was  extinguished  in 
Connecticut  by  legislative  act.  Pequot  river  was  called 
the  Thames,  Pequot  town  was  named  New  London, 

Thus  perished  the  race  and  name  of  the  Pequots. 
The  first  aboriginal  tribe  who  defied  the  English  power, 
had  fallen  in  the  desperate  struggle  for  liberty  and  life. 
In  their  fate  they  were  but  the  precursors  of  a  Icng  line 
of  Indian  races  who  were,  one  after  another,  to  disappear 
as  the  gathering  tide  of  European  civilization  swept  on- 
ward to  the  west.  In  quick  succession  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Alleghanies,  and  thence  to  the  Mississippi,  the 
native  tribes  have  melted  away  ;  and  westward  still,  from 
the  river  to  the  Eocky  Mountains,  the  fatal  tide  flows 
Bwiftly  on,  driving  before  it  the  few  whom  it  does  not 
slay.  Already  it  breaks  in  narrow  streams  through  those 
mountain  passes,  until  the  far  west  is  no  longer  the  un- 
disturbed home  of  the  red  man.  A  few  years  more  will 
see  the  fate  of  the  Pequots  repeated  on  our  western 
shores  ;  the  great  tragedy  of  New  England  will  be  re- 
acted on  the  hills  of  Oregon  ;  the  ''  notes  of  the  last 
aboriginal  death  song  shall  mingle  with  the  murmur  of 
the  Pacific." 

'  Trumbuirs  Hist,  of  Connecticut,  vi.  pp.  92,  93,  Book  1,  oh.  ▼. 


COMPANIONS    OF    ROGER    WILLIAMS.  37 


CHAPTER   IV. 

DISTORT  OF  PROVIDENCE  FROM  ITS  SETTLEMENT,  1636,  TO  THE 
ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  UNDER  THE  PARLIA- 
MENTARY CHARTER,  MAY,   16i7. 

The  original  companions  of  Roger  Williams,  by  his  chap 
own  account,  were  four  in  number,  William  Harris,  John  - — .— 
Smith,  Francis  Wickes,  and  a  lad  whom  tradition  asserts  -^  °  ^  "• 
to  be  Thomas  Angel.  '     By  a  letter  from  Joshua  Verin, 
on  the  town  records,  it  appears  that  he  also  accompanied 
the  above  named  persons  to  Providence,  as  he  speaks  of 
"  we  six  which  came  first."     This  apparent  discrepancy  is 
readily  explained.     The  four  persons  named  by  Williams 
probably  joined   him   in   his  first  jjlanting   at   Seekonk, 
while  Verin  came  later  but  in  season   to   remove  with 
them  across  the  river,  and  thus  to  become  one  of  the  six 
original  settlers  of  Providence. 

That  it  was  not  the  intention  of  Eoger  Williams,  in 
seeking  a  refuge  in  the  wilderness,  to  become  the  founder 
of  a  State,  his  own  declaration  proves.  Driven  from  the 
society  of  civilized  men,  who  showed  little  sympathy  with 
the  enlightened  and  progressive  views  that  placed  him  so 

*  "  My  soul's  desire  was  to  do  the  natives  good,  and  to  th:it  end  to  have  their 
language,  (which  I  afterwards  printed,)  and  therefore  desired  not  to  be  trou- 
bled with  English  company,  yet  out  of  pity  I  gave  leave  to  William  Harris, 
then  poor  and  destitute,  to  come  along  in  my  company.  I  consented  to  John 
Smith,  miller  at  Dorchester,  (banished,  also,)  to  go  with  me,  and  at  John 
Smith's  desire,  to  a  poor  young  fellow,  Francis  Wickes,  as  also  to  a  lad  of 
Richard  Waterman's.  These  are  all  I  remember." — R.  Williams'  Answer  to 
W,  Harris  hffore  the.  Court  of  Commissioners,  17th  JVov.,  1677. 

VOL    I — 7 


9S  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ^^r  in  advance  of  his  age,  his  earnest,  toiling  spirit,  sought 
^J^l.1^  among  the  savages  a  field  of  action,  and  their  debased 
16  3  6.  condition  presented  a  fitting  object  for  his  philanthropy. 
Had  his  only  motive  been  to  escape  from  the  vexations  of 
a  discordant  community  he  would  have  refused,  even 
against  the  plea  of  pity,  all  English  companionship,  and, 
like  Blackstone,  '  who  at  the  quiet  retreat  of  Study  Hill, 
had  preceded  him  to  Ehode  Island,  would  have  found,  in 
communion  with  nature  in  her  solitude,  that  /est  which 
human  fellowship  denied.  But  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
events  had  ordered  otherwise.  The  missionary  spirit 
which  led  Williams  to  devote  his  energies  to  the  good  of 
the  Indians,  gave  him  that  hold  upon  their  aflection  and 
esteem  wliich  enabled  him  to  dwell  securely  among  them, 
and  to  acquire  that  ascendency  in  their  councils  which 
afterwards  made  him  the  averter  of  war,  and  the  virtual 
protector  of  New  England.     The  humanity  of  his  disposi- 

'  There  is  a  mystery  in  the  life  of  Wm.  Blackstone  which  probably  can 
never  be  explained.  AVhen  and  how  he  came  to  America  is  unknown.  The 
first  planters  of  Massachusetts  Bay  found  him  already  established,  the  ear- 
liest English  settler  on  the  peninsula  of  Shawmut,  now  Boston,  where  he 
planted  an  orchard,  the  first  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  clergyman  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  no  doubt  left  his  native  country  on  account  of  non- 
conformity, the  same  reason  that  led  him  soon  after  to  seek  a  home  for  the 
second  time  in  the  wilderness,  when  he  used  this  memorable  expression  :  "  I 
left  England  to  get  from  under  the  power  of  the  lord  bishops,  but  in  America 
I  am  fallen  under  the  power  of  the  lord  brethren."  At  his  suggestion  the 
larger  portion  of  the  colonists  of  1630,  who  had  settled  at  Charle?town,  re- 
moved to  Boston.  In  1634  he  sold  out  his  title  to  Shawmut.  each  inhabitant 
paying  him  sixpence,  and  some  of  them  more,  and,  purchasing  cattle,  re- 
moved soon  after  to  a  spot  named  by  him  "  Study  Hill,"  within  what  is  known 
as  "  the  Attleboro'  Gore,"  in  Plymouth  patent,  now  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town  of  Cumberland,  R.  I.,  near  the  banks  of  the  PawtUcket  river.  He  thus 
became  the  first  settler  of  Rhode  Island,  if  we  except  the  three  English  re- 
ferred to  in  Winthrop's  Journal,  (1,  72)  as  occupying  a  house  at  Sowamset, 
now  Warren,  which  was  attacked  by  Indians  in  April,  1632,  and  as  this  seems 
to  have  been  hut  a  temporary  trading  post,  such  as  were  frequently  set  up  ir 
the  Indian  country,  and  not  a  peiTnanent  settlement,  such  as  Blackstone's  was, 
no  other  reference  being  anywhere  made  to  it,  the  honor  here  claimed  prop- 
erly belongs  to  the  proprietor  of  Study  Hill.  At  the  time  of  his  removal  he 
is  supposed  to  have  resided  at  Shawmut   about  ten  years.     Lechford  says, 


EARLY    TITLE    DEEDS   OF    PROVIDENCE.  99 

tion  prompted  him  so  far  to  vary  his  exclusive  design  in  chap. 
favor  of  the  Indians,  out  of  pity  to  those  who  had  like-  ^^^^^^^ 
wise  suffered  persecution  in  Massachusetts,  that,  contrary   16  3  6. 
to  his  own  desire,  he  brought  with  him  a  small  but  reso- 
lute band  of  immigrants  and  thereby  formed  the  nucleus 
of  a  State.     These  were  soon  joined  by  others,  but  at 
what  precise   time  or  in  what  numbers  it  is  now  impos- 
sible to  know.     Many  of  the  records  were  lost,  probably 
in  the  burning  of  the  town  during  Philip's  war,  and  those 
which  are  still  preserved  were  but  imperfectly  kept.  1637-8. 

The  earliest  deed  upon  record  is  in  the  form  of  a  24. 
memorandum  dated  the  twenty-fourth  of  March  in  the 
second  year  of  the  plantation.  It  refers  to  a  sale  made 
two  years  previous,  of  the  lands  upon  Mooshausick  and 
Wanasquatucket  rivers,  by  Canonicus  and  Miantinomi 
to  Eoger  WilKams,  confirming  the  same,  and  by  its 
terms  extending  the  grant  on  either  side  so  as  to  include 

"  One  Master  Blackstone,  a  minister,  went  from  Boston,  having  lived  there 
nine  or  ten  years,  because  he  would  not  join  with  the  church  ;  he  lives  near 
Master  Williams,  but  is  far  from  his  opinions,"  p.  42 — Plaine  Dealing,  Lvadon, 
1641.  He  lived  peacefully  at  his  new  plantation  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
Here  he  planted  an  apple  orchard,  the  first  that  ever  bore  fruit  in  Rhode 
Island.  "  He  had  the  first  of  that  sort  called  yellow  sweetings  that  were  ever 
in  the  world  perhaps,  the  richest  and  most  delicious  apple  of  the  whole  kind." 
(2  M.  H.  C.  ix.  174.)  Many  of  his  trees  planted  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
before  were  stQl  in  bearing  when  Gov.  Hopkins  wrote  in  1765,  and  Mr.  New- 
man in  his  Discourse  on  4th  July,  1855,  before  the  Blackstone  Monument 
Association,  says  that  as  late  as  1830  three  of  these  trees  were  living,  and 
two  of  them  bore  apples.  They  were  then  nearly  two  centuries  old !  He 
frequently  came  to  Providence  to  preach  the  Gospel,  "  and  to  encourage  his 
younger  hesrers  gave  them  the  first  apples  they  ever  saw."  When  no  longer 
able  to  travel  on  foot  he  rode  on  a  bull  that  he  had  broken  to  the  saddle. 
His  wife,  Mrs.  Sarah  Blackstone,  died  in  June,  1673.  His  own  death  oc- 
curred May  26th,  1675,  at  an  advanced  age,  having  resided  probably  more 
than  fifty  years  in  New  England.  He  was  spared  from  witnessing  the  deso- 
lation of  his  place,  and  the  burning  of  his  house  and  library  by  the  Indians 
in  Philip's  war,  which  broke  out  a  few  days  after  his  decease.  He  left  but 
one  child,  John,  for  whom  guardians  were  a;  pointed  by  Plj-mouth  govern- 
ment in  1675.  His  family  is  not  extinct.  An  inventory  of  his  estate,  taken 
ten  days  after  his  death,  is  contained  in  2  M.  H.  C.  x.  172.  The  name  was 
originally  spelt  Blaxton.  See  App.  0.  vol.  ii.  p.  568. 


100  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   all    the    land  between  Pawtucket  and  Pawtuxet  rivers, 

1 V  • 

.^,_L_-   "With  the  grass  and  meadows  upon  the  latter  stream.    This 

i63i-6.  extended  grant  is  made  "  in  consideration  of  the  many 
kindnesses  and  services  he  hath  continually  done  for  us," 
and  the  instrument  is  signed  by  the  original  grantors. 
A  memorandum  appended  the  following  year  states  that 
May  this  was  all  again  confirmed  by  Miantinomi,  "  up  the 
^'  streams  of  Pawtucket  and  Pawtuxet  without  limits  we 
might  have  for  the  use  of  our  cattle."  By  this,, document 
it  appears  that  the  sole  title  to  all  the  larids  vested  in 
Eoger  Williams.  When  years  afterwards  a  bitter  dis- 
pute arose  among  the  settlers,  in  which  the  ojiponents  of 
Williams  denied  his  exclusive  original  title  to  the  lands, 
he  wrote,  "  they  were  mine  own  as  truly  as  any  man's 
coat  upon  his  back."  Nor  was  it  true,  as  alleged,  that 
the  purchase  was  made  by  him  as  agent  of  the  company. 
The  sources  of  his  ability  to  treat  with  the  Indians,  and 
the  reasons  of  his  having  any  companions  at  all  in  his  set- 
tlement, as  above  recited,  are  sufficient  proof,  apart  from 
his  own  positive  statements,  that  his  assertion  upon  these 
points  is  correct.  But  it  was  not  his  intention  to  secure 
to  himself  the  exclusive  advantage  which  his  position 
afforded  him.  Soon  after  the  purchase  he  executed  a 
deed  giving  an  equal  share  with  himself  to  twelve  of  his 
companions  "  and  such  others  as  the  major  part  of  us 
shall  admit  into  the  same  fellowship  of  vote  with  us."  It 
was  a  simple  memorandum,  like  the  first  Indian  deed, 
without  date,  and  known  as  the  ''  initial  deed,"  from  its 
containing  simply  the  initials  of  the  grantees.  These 
were  Stukely  Westcott,  William  Arnold,  Thomas  James, 
Eobert  Cole,  John  Greene,  John  Throckmorton,  William 
Harris,  William  Carpenter,  Thomas  Olney,  Francis  Wes- 
ton, Richard  Waterman,  Ezckiel  Holyman,  who,  with 
Roger  Williams,  the  grantor,  form  the  thirteen  original 
projirietors  of  Providence. 

This  remained  for  more  than  twenty  years  the  only 


DIVISIONS    OF    LAND.  101 

evidence  of  title  possessed  by  the  town,  until  Dec,  1661,  chap. 
when  Mr.  Williams  executed  a  more  formal  conveyance  ^^  ■ 
by  request  of  the  citizens,  and  five  years  later  he  exe-  166  6. 
cuted  still  another  deed,  being  an  exact  transcript  of  the 
"  initial  deed,"  except  that  the  names  of  the  grantees 
were  given  in  full,  and  the  instrument  was  dated  the  8th 
of  8  th  month,  1638,  to  conform  as  nearly  as  possible  with 
the  time  the  original  was  given.  The  sole  object  of  this 
instrument  appears  to  be  to  explain  the  first  one  as  to 
date  and  names. '  It  will  be  observed  that  only  two  of 
the  original  settlers  appear  as  proprietors  by  this  deed. 
Of  the  remaining  four,  two  at  least  were  minors,  one,  Ve- 
rin,  had  already  abandoned  the  settlement  and  returned 
to  Massachusetts,  and  John  Smith,  the  miller,  was 
dead.  Some  of  the  grantees  it  is  known  did  not  leave 
Massachusetts  until  1638.  But  all  of  them,  the  six 
settlers  and  thirteen  proprietors,  being  seventeen  per- 
sons, had  lots  assigned  them,  together  with  many  others, 
fifty-four  in  all,  in  the  first  division  of  land  which  took 
place  soon  after  the  "  initial  deed  "  was  accepted.  The 
proprietors  divided  the  lands  into  two  parts,  one  called  Oct, 
"  the  grand  purchase  of  Providence,"  the  other  "  the 
Pawtuxet  purchase  "  In  the  first  of  these  divisions  fifty- 
four  names  appear  as  the  owners  of  "  home  lots,"  as  they 
were  called,  extending  from  "  the  town  street,"  now- 
North  and  South  Main  streets,  eastward  to  Hope  street, 
beside  which  each  person  had  a  six  acre  lot  assigned  to 
nim  in  other  parts  of  the  purchase,  some  on  the  banks  of 
the  Seekonk,  where  Roger  Williams'  out  lot  was  located, 
at  Whatcheer,  the  farthest  north  of  all,  and  some  on  the 
Wanasquatucket  river.'^  The  division  known  as  the  *'  Paw- 
tuxet purchase,"  which  from  the  beauty  of  its  meadow 

•  See  Staple's  Annals  of  Providence,  pp.  26,  28,  30,  33,  for  these  deeds. 

'  The  grantees  were  prohibited  from  selling  to  any  but  an  inhabitant 
without  consent  of  the  town,  and  a  penalty  was  imposed  upon  such  as  did 
not  improve  their  grounds. 


102  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  lands  soon  began  to  be  settled/  was  the  source  of  long 
_-,-;_  and  angry  contention  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
16  3  8.  colony,  as  will  hereafter  appear.'^ 

The  government  established  by  these  primitive  settlers 
of  Providence  was  an  anomaly  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
At  the  outset  it  was  a  pure  democracy,  which  for  .the  iirst 
lime  guarded  jealously  the  rights  of  conscience  by  igno- 
ring any  power  in  the  body  politic  to  interfere  with  those 

matters  that  alone  concern  man  and  his  Maker.     The  in- 

.»  > 

103  7.  habitants,  "  masters  of  families,"  incorporated  themselves 

into  a  town  and  made  an  order  that  no  man  should  be 
molested  for  his  conscience.  As  yet  there  was  no  dele- 
gated power.  The  little  community  had  i\ot  swelled  to 
the  dimensions  that  required  a  division  of  labor  in  the 
conduct  of  pubUc  aifairs.  The  people  met  monthly  in 
town  meeting,  and  chose  a  clerk  and  treasurer  at  each 
meeting.  It  is  mucli  to  be  regretted  that  the  records  of 
the  town  were  so  loosely  kept.'  An  experiment  like  this, 
which  had  no  precedent  to  furnish  in  doubtful  cases  a  cri- 
terion of  action,  must  have  often  presented  questions  of 
the  deepest  importance  to  the  colonists,  in  the  decision  of 
which  there  could  be  no  other  guide  than  their  own  clear 
minds.     Principle,  not  precedent,  formed  their  only  stand- 

*  The  first  settlers  of  Pawtuxet  were  Wm.  Arnold,  \Vm.  Carpenter,  Zeeh- 
ariah  Rhodes  and  Wm.  Harris,  who  removed  from  Providence  in  1638. 

°  The  details  of  tlie  various  divisions  of  land  in  the  town  and  vicinity,  and 
the  localities  assigned  to  individual  proprietors,  so  far  as  they  can  now  be  as- 
certained, are  given  in  Judge  Staple's  Annals  of  Providence,  and  are  not  re- 
peated here  because  they  belong  more  properly  to  a  local  history  of  the  town, 
which  has  already  been  most  diligently  prepared  in  the  aforenamed  book, 
than  to  a  general  history  of  the  State. 

^  The  only  officer  whose  election  is  recorded  is  Thomas  Olney,  Treasurer. 
The  earliest  record  is  dated  16th  of  4th  mo.,  (June,)  but  without  year.  It 
provides  for  a  fine  upon  all  persons  who  may  be  more  than  fifteen  minutes 
late  at  town-meeting,  and  but  three  other  entries  are  made  under  that  year, 
the  last  of  which,  dated  3d  of  lOth  month,  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  first  mem- 
orandum. The  next  page  is  headed  "  Agreements  and  Orders  of  the  2d  year 
of  the  Plantation,"  under  which  but  seven  entries  are  made,  all  relating  to 
grants  of  land  and  preservation  of  timber,  and  bui  three  have  a  date  affixed. 


THE    CIVIL    COMPACT.  103 

ard  of  judgment.     Could  the  record  of  their  proceedings  chap 

have  been  preserved,  with  what  interest  should  we  now  .^ ^j_^ 

peruse  the  debates  of  this  earliest  of  modern  democracies  !  16  3  7. 
The  first  written  compact  that  has  come  down  to  us  is  as 
fullows  :  "  We  whose  names  are  hereunder,  desirous  to 
inhabit  in  the  town  of  Providence,  do  promise  to  subject 
ourselves  in  active  or  passive  obedience  to  all  such  orders 
or  agreements  as  shall  be  made  for  public  good  of  the 
body,  in  an  orderly  way,  by  the  major  assent  of  the  pres- 
ent inhabitants,  masters  of  families,  incorporated  together 
into  a  town  fellowship,  and  such  others  whom  they  shall 
admit  unto  them,  only  in  civil  things."  It  is  signed  by 
thirteen  persons — Richard  Scott,  William  x  Reynolds, 
John  X  Field,  Chad.  Brown,  John  Warner,  George  Rick- 
ard,  Edward  Cope,  Thomas  x  Angell,  Thomas  x  Harris, 
Francis  x  Wickes,  Benedict  Arnold,  Joshua  Winsor, 
William  Wickenden.  The  five  with  the  mark  x  afiixed, 
signed  by  their  mark,  but  whether  through  inability  to 
write  their  names,  or  from  some  other  cause,  may  be  ques- 
tioned, as  we  know  that  at  that  period  instruments  having 
more  than  one  signature  were  often  thus  signed  by  some 
of  the  parties  who  knew  how  to  write.  This  agreement 
is  without  date  on  the  original  record.  It  refers  in  terms 
to  an  ao-reement  between  the  first  settlers  and  to  their  in- 
corporation  into  a  town  fellowship,  and  is  therefore  pre- 
sumed to  be  the  agreement  of  the  "  second  comers  " — a 
view  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  it  is  signed  by  T.  An- 
gell and  F.  Wickes,  who  came  with  R.  Williams,  but  be- 
ing, according  to  tradition,  minors,  were  not  named  in 
Mr.  Williams'  deed,  and  now,  having  attained  their  ma- 
jority, they  take  this  occasion  to  sign  the  compact  of  cit- 
izenship. The  parties  bind  themselves  "  only  in  civil 
things,"  thus  securing  the  rights  of  conscience  inviolate 
as  their  predecessors  had  done.  The  different  and  often 
conflicting  views  of  the  members  of  this  infant  State  upon 
the  exciting  topics  which  caused  their  exile,  and  the  un- 


104  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

tried  principles  uiion  which  their  settlement  was  made, 
would  afford  a  curious  example  of  diversity  of  thought 
and  action  converging  to  the  same  great  end.  Unfortu- 
nately our  only  authorities  upon  these  subjects  are  the 
scattered  and  often  biassed  statements  from  the  chronicles 
of  Massachusetts.  The  fairest  of  these  annalists  has 
preserved  a  fragment  of  discussion,  so  curious  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  nature  of  the  difficulties  which  must  have 
been  constantly  ariising  in  the  colony,  and  of  th^  shrewd, 
practical  character  of  the  people  in  their  solution  of  knotty 
questions,  that  we  transcribe  it.  "  At  Providence,  also, 
the  devil  was  not  idle.  For  whereas  at  their  first  coming 
thither,  Mr.  Williams  and  the  rest  did  iliake  an  order 
that  no  man  should  be  molested  for  his  conscience,  now 
men's  wives,  and  children,  and  servants,  claiming  liberty 
hereby  to  go  to  all  religious  meetings,  though  never  so 
often,  or  though  private,  upon  the  week  days  ;  and  be- 
cause one  Verin  refused  to  let  his  wife  go  to  Mr.  Wil- 
liams' so  often  as  she  was  called  for,  they  required  to  have 
him  censured.  But  there  stood  up  one  Arnold,  a  witty 
man  of  their  own  company,  and  withstood  it,  telling  them 
that,  when  he  consented  to  that  order,  he  never  intended 
it  should  extend  to  the  breach  of  any  ordinance  of  God, 
such  as  the  subjection  of  wives  to  their  husbands,  etc., 
and  gave  divers  solid  reasons  against  it.  Then  one 
Greene  replied  that  if  they  should  restrain  their  wives, 
etc.,  all  the  women  in  the  country  would  cry  out  of  them, 
etc.  Arnold  answered  him  thus  :  Did  you  pretend  to 
leave  the  Massachusetts  because  you  would  not  offend 
God  to  please  men,  and  would  you  now  break  an  ordi- 
nance and  commandment  of  God  to  please  women  ? 
Some  were  of  opinion  that  if  Verin  would  not  suffer  his 
wife  to  have  her  liberty,  the  church  should  dis})Ose  her  to 
some  other  man  who  would  use  her  better.  Arnold  told 
them  that  it  was  not  the  woman's  desire  to  go  so  oft  from 
home,  but  onlv  Mr.  Williams'  and  others.     In  conclusion, 


THE    VERIN    CASE.  105 

when  they  would  have  censured  Verin,  Arnold  told  them   chap. 

that  it  was  against  their  own  order,  for  Verin  did  that  he   ^ 

did  out  of  conscience  ;  and  their  order  was  that  no  man  16  3  7. 
should  be  censured  for  his  conscience."  This  then  is  the 
earliest  record  we  have  of  the  struggle  between  liberty 
and  law,  the  rival  elements  which  Rhode  Island  was  to 
reconcile  in  the  novel  experiment  of  a  self-governed  State. 
The  only  entry  referring  to  it  upon  the  town  books  is  in  Maj 
these  words  :  "  It  was  agreed  that  Joshua  Verin,  upon 
the  breach  of  a  covenant  for  restraining  of  the  libertie  of 
conscience,  shall  be  withheld  from  the  libertie  of  voting 
till  he  shall  declare  the  contrarie."  Here  was  a  case  in- 
volving the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Rhode  Island  settlers 
with  the  most  delicate  subject  of  family  regulation.  One 
of  greater  difficulty  could  not  well  be  imagined.  On  the 
supposition  that  Mrs.  Verin  felt  bound  in  conscience  to 
attend  the  meetings,  and  did  so  without  detriment  to  her 
domestic  duties,  the  restraint  imposed  by  her  husband  was 
a  violation  of  the  Rhode  Island  principle,  and  as  such 
the  punishment  was  correctly  administered,  although  the 
report,  as  given  by  Winthrop,  doubtless  derived  from 
Verin  himself,  naturally  gives  the  best  of  the  argument 
to  the  latter. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Williams,  jointly  with  Gov.  Win-    Nov. 

10 

throp,  purchased  of  Canonicus  the  island  of  Chibachu- 
weset,  which  had  formerly  been  oifered  by  the  Indians  to 
John  Oldham,  on  condition  that  he  would  settle  there  for 
purposes  of  trade,  which  he  failed  to  do.  This  he  named 
Prudence,  and  two  smaller  islands  adjacent,  which  he  soon 
after  purchased,  he  called  Patience  and  Hope.  These 
lands,  with  other  property,  he  afterwards  sold  to  meet  his 
expenses  in  England  wdien  on  service  for  the  colony. 
Gov.  Winthrop  retained  his  half  of  Prudence  island,  and 
left  it  in  his  will  to  his  son  Stephen.' 

'  3  M.  H  C.  i.  165.  Knowles'  R.  W.  124.  The  deed  of  Prudence  island 
is  dated  10th  Nov.  R.  I.  H.  C.  iii.  29.  Williams'  letter  to  Gov.  Wmthrop 
on  the  subject  is  dated  Oct.  28tL 


iOG  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    KHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  The  annals  of  crime  have  rarely  contained  a  more 

.^ ^  atrocious  murder  than  was  committed  near  Providence, 

1  (]  8  8.  upon  the  person  of  an  Indian,  by  four  English  from  Ply- 
"'  mouth  in  the  following  summer.  The  murderers  Avere 
taken  at  Aquidneck,  and  Mr.  Williams,  writing  to  Gov. 
Winthrop  for  advice  as  to  where  they  should -be  tried, 
gives  the  particulars  of  the  tragedy. •  One  escaped.  The 
remaining  three  were  sent  to  Plymouth,  tried  and  exe- 
cuted. Tlie  chief  interest  of  the  affair  at  thisjday  relates 
to  the  question  of  jurisdiction,  and  to  the  diverse  reasons 
assigned  for  having  the  trial  at  Plymouth.  Williams 
thought  they  should  be  tried  at  Aquidneck,  where  they 
were  taken,  and  if  not  they  should  be  sent  to  Plymouth, 
where  they  belonged.  The  Aquidneck  settlers  desired  to 
send  them  to  Providence,  where  the  crime  was  commit- 
ted, and  this  certainly  was  the  correct  view.  Grov.  Win- 
throp advised  that  they  be  delivered  to  Plymouth  if  sent 
for,  otherwise  that  the  ringleader  be  given  up  to  the  In- 
dians, and  the  other  three  be  detained  till  further  consid- 
eration, and  gives  as  his  reasons  that  there  was  no  English 
jurisdiction  where  the  crime  was  committed,  and  no  gov- 
ernment at  the  island  where  the  criminals  were  arrested.^ 
Plymouth  also  applied  to  Mastsachusetts  for  advice,  and 
the  Secretary  assigns  opposite  reasons  from  those  given 
by  Gov.  Winthrop  himself  for  his  advice,  and  very  dif- 
ferent ones  from  any  that  could  have  influenced  the 
Aquidneck  people  in  surrendering  the  prisoners.  He  sa,y8 
the  Massachusetts  refused  to  try  them  because  the  crime 
was  committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Plymouth,  and 
that  the  Rhode  Island  men  having  taken'  them,  delivered 
them  to  Plymouth  ^'  on  the  same  grounds."-* 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Willianis'  eldest  son,  said  to  be  the 
first  male  child  born  of  English  parents  in  Rhode  Island, 
took  place  in  the  autumn  of  this  year.     He  was  named 

'  3  M.  H.  C.  iii.  170-3.  ^  Winthrop's  Journal,  L  267. 

'  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  208. 


THE    FIRST    BAPTIST    CHURCH.  107 

Providence.     The  first  English  child  born  in  the  colony  cHAp. 
was  a  female,  in  the  same  year,  hut  a  few  months  pre-      ^^  ■ 
vious  to  the  birth  of  Providence  Williams.  16  3  8. 

The  period  had  now  arrived  when  a  church  was  to  be 
organized  in  the  new  plantations.  That  religious  services 
had  not  previously  been  neglected  in  their  exile,  we  may 
fairly  infer  from  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  ear- 
nest nature  of  their  leader,  himself  an  ordained  preacher 
of  the  Grospel,  as  also  was  Thomas  James,  another  of  the 
original  proprietors.  And  we  know  too  that  Mr.  Black- 
stone,  also  a  regular  minister,  residing  within  six  miles  of 
Providence,  was  in  the  habit  of  ^^siting  the  settlement 
for  this  purpose.  As  the  views  entertained  by  the  Provi- 
dence colonists  differed  so  widely  from  those  of  their  Pu- 
ritan brethren  in  other  respects,  a  similar  variance  may 
be  looked  for  in  their  religious  belief ;  and  as  they  had 
instituted  a  civil  government  on  principles  entirely  novel 
in  that  age,  so  were  they  about  to  establish  an  ecclesias- 
tical system,  approaching,  more  nearly,  as  they  consider- 
ed, to  that  of  the  primitive  church,  than  any  then  exist- 
ing in  the  new  world.  Gov.  Winthrop  says  :  "  Many  of 
Boston  and  others,  who  were  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  judg- 
ment and  party,  removed  to  the  isle  of  Aquiday  ;  and  ^ 
others,  who  were  of  the  rigid  separation,  and  savored  3. 
anabaptism,  removed  to  Providence,  so  as  those  parts  be- 
gan to  be  well  peopled."  Some  time  between  this  date  -^^^^^ 
and  the  following  spring,  when  the  account  of  the  bap-  16. 
tism  of  Williams,  Holliman  and  ten  others,  is  recorded 
by  Winthrop,  the  event  then  related  occurred,  which 
places  the  formation  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Amer- 
ica probably  in  the  autumn  of  1638,  and  certainly  prior 
to  the  16th  "of  March,  1639.^ 

'  These  twelve  were  Roger  Williams,  Ezekiel  HoUimaa,  William  Arnold, 
William  Harris,  Stukely  Westcott,  John  Green,  Richard  Waterman.  Thomas 
James,  Robert  Cole,  William  Carpenter,  Francis  Weston  and  Thomas  Olney. 
^Benedict's  Historij  of  Baptists,  i.  473. 

^  An  interestino'  discussion  occurred  a  few  years  since  between  the  First 


108  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

t'liAr.  The  growth  of  the   colony  soon  rendered  a   purely 

^^^_^  democratic  government  impracticable.  Too  onerous  for 
164  0.  the  individual  and  too  feeble  for  the  purposes  of  the  State, 
it  was  reluctantly  and  cautiously  abandoned.  The  jeal- 
ousy of  delegated  power  is  conspicuous  in  the  instrument 
that  authorized  it,  as  well  as  in  the  frequent  elections  by 
which  it  provided  for  a  choice  of  the  "  disposers."  The 
necessity  of  some  change  was  apparent,  and  a  committee 
was  appointed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Providence  to  con- 
sider certain  difficulties  that  had  arisen  in  regftrd  to  a  di- 
vision of  the  lands,  to  adjust  the  same,  and  to  report  a 
form  of  future  government  for  the  action  of  the  town. 
This  report,  consisting  of  twelve  articles  of  agreement, 
"j-^  was  accepted  by  the  people,  thirty-nine  of  whose  signa- 
tures are  attached  to  the  only  copy  in  existence,  certified 
by  the  town  clerk  twenty-two  years  later.'  It  was  but  a 
sliglit  dcjmrture   from  the  primitive  democracy,  still  it 

Baptist  Churches  of  Providence  and  Newport,  the  latter  claiming  seniority, 
contrary  to  received  opinions  and  the  records  of  the  Warren  Association.  A 
report  to  the  Association  was  made  in  18-1:9,  stating  the  grounds  of  the  New- 
port claim.  This  report  was  ably  refuted  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Granger  and  Cas- 
well and  Prof.  Gamraell,  a  committee  in  "behalf  of  the  Providence  church, 
and  their  review  presented  to  the  Warren  Association  at  its  next  annual  meet- 
ing, Sept.  12th,  1850,  and  printed  in  pamphlet  form  soon  after.  In  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year.  Rev.  S.  Adlam,  pastor  of  the  Newport  church,  publiehed  a 
pamphlet  entitled,  "  The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence  Not  the  oldest  of 
the  Baptists  \n  America."  This  is  a  very  ingenious  attempt  to  show,  1st,  That 
the  present  First  Baptist  Church  is  not  the  original  church  referred  to  in  the 
text,  but  a  seceder  from  an  older  church.  2d,  That  this  older  church  disap- 
peared about  1718,  and  3d,  That  the  Newport  church  is  older  than  either  of  them. 
The  last  proposition,  at  least,  proves  too  much,  for  Winthrop  settles  the  fact 
of  the  formation  of  a  Baptist  church  at  Providence  prior  to  16th  March,  1G39, 
while  the  town  of  Newport  was  not  founded  till  May  1st,  six  weeks  after- 
ward. Many  of  the  facts  relied  on  to  sustain  these  positions  will  he  found  to 
be  already  answered  in  the  committee's  Renew,  and  the  additional  statements 
are  well  weighed  by  Rev.  Henry  Jackson,  D.  D.,  in  "  Churches  in  Rhode 
Island,"  pp.  15-22,  70-85,  95  and  122,  23.  Mr.  Adlam's  pamphlet  is  a  fine 
specimen  of  historical  reasoning,  requiring  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
times  and  subject,  and  some  experience  in  critical  analysis,  to  detect  the  er- 
rors in  its  premises  and  the  consequent  fallacy  of  its  conclusions. 
'  Staple's  Annals,  p.  40-3. 


FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT    ALTERED.  109 

forms  an  era  in  our  colonial  history,  and  for  several  years  chap. 
constituted  the  town  government. 

The  first  article  fixes  the  bounds  between  Pawtuxet 
proprietors  and  those  of  Providence.  The  second  pre- 
scribes that  five  men  be  appointed  by  the  town  to  dispose 
of  the  common  lands,  and  to  do  the  general  business  of 
the  town,  but  in  receiving  freemen  they  are  first  to  notify 
the  inhabitants,  lest  any  objections  should  exist  against 
the  applicant.  If  any  one  felt  aggrieved  by  the  action 
of  the  '•  disposers/'  he  could  appeal  to  the  town  meeting. 
A  town  clerk  was  to  be  chosen  in  addition  to  these  five 
selectmen,  and  the  guaranty  of  liberty  of  conscience  is 
again  expressly  given.  The  next  two  articles  provide  for 
the  settlement  of  all  private  difliculties  by  arbitration, 
and  empowered  the  five  disposers  to  appoint  arbitrators 
when  either  of  the  disputants  refuses  to  do  so.  The  fifth 
requires  all  the  inhabitants  to  unite  in  pursuit  of  any  de- 
linquent. The  sixth  enables  any  party,  aggrieved  by  the 
acts  of  any  one  of  the  "  disposers,''  to  call  a  town  meet- 
ing, in  case  of  an  emergency.  By  the  seventh  article  all 
land  conveyances  from  the  town  were  to  be  made  by  the 
five  selectmen.  The  next  two  articles  provide  for  monthly 
meetings  of  the  selectmen  or  "  disposers,"  and  quarterly 
met'tino-s  of  the  town,  at  which  the  former  were  to  render 
their  accounts  and  a  new  election  to  be  had.  The  fees  of 
the  clerk  and  his  term  of  ofiice,  to  be  one  year,  are  the 
subjects  of  the  tenth  article.  The  eleventh  quiets  all 
prior  land  titles.  The  last  article  levies  a  tax  of  thirty 
shillings  upon  all  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

The  provisions  for  elections,  and  for  a  revision  of  the 
acts  of  the  "  disposers"  at  quarterly  town  meetings,  and 
for  extra  town  meetings  in  the  brief  intervals,  to  redress 
any  private  grievance  inflicted  by  the  selectmen,  or  any 
one  of  them,  are  remarkable  proofs  of  the  tenacity  with 
which  the  founders  of  Providence  held  in  their  own  hands 
the  reins  of  delegated  power.     The  largest  liberty  of  the 


110  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  citizen,  civil  as  weU  as  religious,  consistent  with  the  exist- 
_i^  ence  of  society,  was  their  cherished  object,  and  one  which 
16  40.  they  protected  with  the  jealousy  of  men  escaped  from  the 
tyranny  of  a  church  and  state  combination.  But  the 
element  of  strength  which  it  was  sought  to  embody  in  the 
new  system  was  not  there.  The  passions  of  men  were 
not  restrained,  and  the  crude  ideas  of  many  who  sought 
the  new  colony  as  a  refuge  from  oppression,  were  not  defi- 
nitely shaped  by  this  new  agreement  Latitude  of  opin- 
ion upon  fundamental  points  of  civil  government  still 
Yc,4^l  existed.  Theories  subversive  of  all  legal  restraint  were 
broached,  and  although  the  angry  discussions  which  they 
produced  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  social  order,  they 
gave  occasion  for  the  calumny  that  "  at  Providence  they 
denied  all  magistracy  and  churches."  The  doctrine  that 
conscience  was  to  be  the  sole  guide  of  the  individual,  in 
civil  as  well  as  in  religious  matters,  was  held  by  some  who 
did  not  see  clearly  the  distinction  as  it  existed  in  the 
mind  of  Roger  Williams.  In  the  neighboring  colonies 
these  perversions  of  the  idea  of  soul  liberty  were  magni- 
fied, and  the  disorder  that  threatened  during  the  discus- 
sions, which  finally  ended  in  the  united  triumph  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  and  social  law,  wasmisrci)rcsented  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  established  system  in  the  State.  Any  attempt 
to  enforce  the  laws  was  attended  with  danger  to  the  exist- 
ence of  the  settlement,  so  much  so,  that  on  several  occa- 
sions aid  from  abroad  was  solicited  to  sustain  the  deci- 
y^^^^.  sions  of  arbitrators  legally  aj^i^ointed,  in  accordance  with 
17  the  new  form  of  government.  The  earliest  instance  of 
this  impolitic  action  is  found  in  a  letter  from  thirteen  of 
the  colonists  addressed  to  the  Massachusetts,  comi)laining 
of  the  conduct  of  Gorton  and  his  partisans,  one  of  whom, 
Francis  Weston,  had  refused  to  submit  to  the  "  arbitra- 
tion of  eight  men  orderly  chosen."  To  enforce  their  de- 
cree a  levy  was  made  on  Weston's  cattle.  A  riot  ensued, 
in  which  some  blood  was  spilt  and  a  rescue  effected  by  his 


PAWTUXET    MEN    SUBMIT    TO    MASSACHUSETTS.  Ill 

friends,  who  then  openly  declared  that  a  similar  result  chap. 
should  follow  any  attempt  to  attach  any  property  of  theirs.  .^-,,I_ 
The  writers  urge  the  necessity  of  the  case  as  the  reason  1641. 
for  their  asking  assistance  and  advice.     In  reply  the  gov- 
ernment of  Massachusetts  declined  to  send  aid,  because 
they  "  could  not  levy  any  war  without  a  general  Court  ; " 
and  "  for  counsel,  that  except  they  did  submit  themselves 
to  some  jurisdiction,  either  Plymouth,  or  ours,  we  had  no 
calling  or  warrant  to  interpose  in  their  contentions,  but  if 
they  were  once  subject  to  any,  then  they  had  a  calling  to 
protect   them."     How  such  a  submission  by  any  inhabit- 
ants of  Rhode  Island  could  operate  to  extend  the  Massa- 
chusetts   charter  beyond  its  prescribed  limits,   or,  if  it 
could  do  so,  how  any  of  the  peoiDle  could  invite  such  a 
usurpation  we  cannot  understand. 

A  few  months  after  this  affair  four  of  the  principal  16  42 
inhabitants,  then  resident  at  Pawtuxet,  dissatisfied  with  |^  ' 
the  conduct  of  Gorton  and  his  company,  who  had  moved 
to  their  neighborhood,  offered  themselves  and  their  lands 
to  the  government  and  protection  of  Massachusetts,  and 
were  received  by  the  General  Court,  These  were  Wil- 
liam Arnold,  Eobert  Cole,  William  Carpenter  and  Bene- 
dict Arnold.  The  first  three  were  among  the  original 
purchasers.  The  last  was  the  son  of  the  first-named. 
They  were  appointed  by  the  General  Court  as  justices  of 
the  peace.'  Thus  a  foreign  jurisdiction  was  set  up  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  infant  colony,  which  greatly  increased 
the  difficulties  of  its  existence,  and  continued  for  sixteen 
years  to  harass  the  inhabitants  of  Providence,  and  threat- 
en the  peace  of  Rhode  Island  long  after  the  Parliamen- 
tary charter  had  secured  to  the  people  the  right  of  self- 
government.^     The  motives  of  the  Court  in  this  act  are 

'  Mass.  Col.  Rec.  2,  27. 

-  It  was  not  till  1658  that  this  unnatural  condition  of  things  was  termi- 
nated upon  the  petition  of  Wm.  Arnold  and  Wm.  Carpenter  in  behalf  of  them- 
selves and  all  the  inhabitants  of  Pawtuxet.  asking  for  a  full  discharge  of  theiz 


112  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  stated  by  the  Governor  to  be  "  partly  to  secure  these  men 
_i^;_,  from  unjust  violence,  and  partly  to  draw  in  the  rest  in 
1  0  42.  those  parts,  either  under  ourselves  or  Plymouth,  who  now 
lived  under  no  government,  but  grew  very  offensive,  and 
the  place  was  likely  to  be  of  use  to  us,  especially  if  we 
should  have  occasion  of  sending  out  against  any  Indians 
of  Narraganset,  and  likewise  for  an  outlet  into  the  Nar- 
raganset  Bay,  and  seeing  it  came  without  our  seeking,  and 
would  be  no  charge  to  us,  we  thought  it  not  %Msdom  io 
Oct.  let  it  slip."  In  a  few  weeks  a  letter  was  addressed  by 
Massachusetts  ''  to  our  neighbors  of  Providence,"  inform- 
ing them  of  this  submission  of  the  Pawtuxet  men,  noti- 
fying them  that  the  Courts  were  open  for  tlie  trial  of  any 
complaints  against  these  men,  and  accompanied  with  the 
assurance  that  equal  justice  should  there  be  rendered,  and 
with  the  threat  that  if  violence  were  resorted  to  against 
them  it  would  be  repelled  in  like  manner.'  This  official 
demonstration  of  the  grasping  policy  of  Massachusetts 
alarmed  the  colonists,  who  naturally  preferred  their  own 
system  of  arbitration  to  the  decision  of  Courts  in  another, 
and  as  they  had  good  reason  to  consider,  a  hostile  juris- 
1H42-3.  diction.  Gorton  and  his  companions,  who,  as  the  parties 
^2'  specially  complained  of,  deemed  this  letter  to  be  aimed 
directly  at  them,  shortly  removed  beyond  the  limits  of 
Providence,  and  purchasing  from  the  Indians  lands  at 
Shawomet,  south  of  Pawtuxet,  commenced  the  settle- 
ment of  Warwick.  But  the  rest  which  they  sought  was 
denied  them  in  their  last  retreat.  The  persecution  of 
their  enemies  followed  them  to  the  homes  which  the 
heathen,  in  pity  for  their  sufferings,  had  bestowed.  A 
dark  contrast  between  the  kindness  of  the  savages  and 
the  cruelty  of  their  civilized  brethren,  is  presented  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Warwick  settlement. 

submission  to  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  which  was  granted  at  the   May 
session.     M.  C.  R.,  v.  -t,  Part  i.,  p.  333. 

'  The  letter  is  pubUshed  in  2  II.  I.  U.  Col.,  p.  53,  and  in  Staple's   Annalfi 
of  Prov.,  p.  47. 


APPLICATION    FOR   A   CHARTER.  113 

The  three  colonies  now  existing  in  Khode  Island  were  chap. 
independent  of  each  other.  They  felt  the  necessity  of  ,^i^ 
union  in  case  of  an  Indian  war  which  constantly  threat-  16  42. 
ened,  and  perhaps  a  still  greater  need  of  an  authorized 
government,  which  should  cause  their  rights  to  he  re- 
spected by  their  neighbors.  As  yet  each  settlement  de- 
pended solely  upon  the  consent  of  its  inhabitants  for  the 
efficiency  of  its  government,  and  this  basis  was  not  recog- 
nized by  the  Puritan  colonies  as  valid.  The  only  ties 
that  bound  them  together  were  those  of  a  common  dan- 
ger from  the  Indians,  the  memory  of  suiferings  endured 
in  a  common  cause,  and  the  peril  to  their  existence  as  a 
State,  which  threatened  all  alike  from  the  ambitious  poli- 
cy of  the  surrounding  colonies.  To  strengthen  their  po- 
sition at  home,  to  fortify  themselves  against  encroachments 
from  abroad,  and  above  all  to  secure  the  enjoyment  of  that 
liberty  of  conscience  for  which  they  had  suffered  so  much 
and  were  destined  to  endure  still  more,  they  sought  from 
the  British  Parliament  a  charter  which  should  recognize 
their  acts  of  self-government  as  legal,  and  invest  with  the 
sanction  of  authority  the  novel  experiment  they  had  com- 
menced. The  movement  was  made  by  the  colony  at  Sept 
Acquedneck.  Providence  united  in  it,  and  Eoger  Wil- 
liams was  selected  as  the  agent.  Early  in  the  following 
summer  he  embarked  at  New  York  in  a  Dutch  ship  for  16  43 
England,  being  compelled  to  this  course  by  the  refusal  of 
Massachusetts  to  permit  him  to  pass  through  their  limits, 
or  to  take  passage  in  one  of  their  vessels.  He  arrived  in 
the  midst  of  the  civil  war.  The  King  had  already  fled, 
and  the  Long  Parliament  ruled  the  realm  of  England. 
The  administration  of  the  colonies  was  intrusted  to  a 
committee,  of  which  the  Earl  of  Warwick  was  chairman, 
with  the  office  and  title  of  "  Governor-in-Chief  and  Lord 
High  Admiral  of  the   Colonies."     His  efforts  with  this    ^  ^/ 

committee  resulted  in  obtainin^j  a  charter  uniting  the  \^^^ 

.  March 

three  Pthode  Island   colonies,  as   "  The  Incorporation  of      14. 

VOL.  I. — 8 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP.  Providence  Plantations  in  the  Narraganset  Bay  in  Ne\v 
J^  England/"  The  arrival  of  Mr.  Williams  with  this  all- 
1 644.  important  document  was  the  occasion  of  general  rejoicing. 
By  virtue  of  an  official  letter  to  the  Massachusetts,  which 
he  brought  with  him/  he  landed  in  Boston,  and  was  al- 
g  lowed  to  proceed  unmolested  to  his  home.  This  letter 
17.  however  failed,  in  its  chief  object,  to  produce  a  relaxation 
of  the  stern  policy  of  the  Bay  towards  the  founder  of  the 
"  heretical  colony."  Hubbard,  in.  his  History,  of  Nev 
England,  says  :  "  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  said  letter  the 
Governor  and  Magistrates  of  the  Massachusetts  found, 
upon  examination  of  their  hearts,  they  saw  no  reason  to 
condemn  themselves  for  any  former  proceedings  against 
Mr.  Williams  ;  but  for  any  ofl&ces  of  Christian  love  and 
duties  of  humanity,  they  were  veiy  willing  to  maintain  a 
mutual  correspondency  with  him.  But  as  to  his  danger- 
ous principles  of  separation,  unless  he  can  be  brought  to 
lay  them  down,  they  see  no  reason  why  to  concede  to  him, 
or  any  so  persuaded,  free  liberty  of  ingress  and  egress, 
lest  any  of  their  people  should  be  drawn  away  with  his 
erroneous  opinions." 

He  passed  quietly  through  the  unfriendly  territory, 
whose  people  he  had  already  once  preserved,  and  from 

'  With  respect  to  the  exact  date  of  this  charter  there  is  some  difference 
of  opinion,  evidently  caused  by  the  carelessness  of  transcribers.  It  is  pub- 
lished in  the  2d  and  4th  vols,  of  R.  I.  H.  Col.,  dated  17th  March.  The  3d 
R.  I  H.  Col.,  Hazard's  State  Papjrs,  and  2  M.  H.  C.  vol.  9,  print  it  with  the 
date  of  14th  March.  Various  writers  have  followed  each  of  thes3  authori- 
ties. The  latter,  however,  is  the  correct  date,  as  ably  argued  by  the  learned 
and  accurate  editor  of  Winthrop's  Journal  in  a  note,  vol.  ii.,  p.  236,  edit. 
1853.  The  fact  that  the  17th  March  1043-4  fell  on  Sunday,  not  a  legal  day 
of  date,  is  of  itself  conclusive  against  that  date.  The  writer,  in  the  course 
of  his  investigations  in  the  British  State  P.ipcr  Office  at  London,  examined 
the  official  MS.  charter  there  preserved;  It  bears  date  14th  March.  This 
positive  evidence,  aside  from  the  negative  proof  adduced  by  Mr.  Savage,  ap- 
pears to  settle  the  question.  The  charter  waa  signed  on  Thursday,  14th 
March,  1643-4. 

"  Tho  letter  is  given  in  Winthrop,  2,  193  (236.) 


WILLIAMS'    RETURN.  115 

wliom  he  was  destined  shortly,  for  the  second  time,  to  chap 
avert  the  horrors  of  Indian  war,  and  reached  Providence  ^^'^ 
by  the  same  route  that  eight  years  before  he  bad  pursued,  16  44. 
a  homeless  wanderer,  dependent  on  the  kindness  of  the 
red  man.     His  entry  was  like  a  triumphal  march.     Four- 
teen canoes,  filled  with  the  exulting  population  of  Provi- 
dence, met  him  at  Seekonk,  and  escorted  him  across  the 
river,   while   the  air  was  rent   with  shouts  of  welcome. 
How  the  contrast  which  a  few  short  years  had  wrought  in 
all  around  him  must  have  pressed  upon  his  mind,  and 
more  than  all  the  feeling  that  the  five  companions  of  his 
exile,  and  those  who  had  followed  them,  were  now  raised, 
by  the  charter  he  had  brought,  from  the   condition  of  de- 
spised and  persecuted  outcasts  to  the  rank  of  an  inde- 
pendent State  ! 

During  the  absence  of  Mr.  Williams  an  event  of  great 
importance  in  its  effect  on  the  welfare  of  the  colonists  oc- 
curred. This  was  the  murder  of  Miantinomi,  the  faith- 
ful ally  of  the  English  and  the  steadfast  friend  of  Rhode 
Island.  A  union  for  mutual  assistance,  to  which  we  shall 
refer  more  fully  in  the  succeeding  chapter,  was  formed  by 
the  other  New  Eno;land  colonies,  and  from  which  the  ^^ 
Rhode  Island  settlements  were  excluded,  upon  grounds  that  19. 
reflect  no  credit  upon  the  Puritan  confederates.  The 
prospect  of  Indian  war  was  the  most  urgent  cause  for 
this  union,  and  the  exclusion  of  Rhode  Island  was  a  vir- 
tual abandonment  of  her  inhabitants  to  the  chances  of 
savage  warfare.  A  war  broke  out  between  Uncas,  sachem  j, 
of  the  Mohegans,  and  Sequasson,  a  sachem  on  the  Con- 
necticut river,  who  was  an  ally  of  Miantinomi.  Both 
parties  appealed  to  the  English,  who  declared  their  inten- 
tion to  remain  neutral.  Miantinomi  espoused  the  cause 
of  his  ally  against  Uncas,  his  hereditary  foe,  and  applied 
to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  "  to  know  if  he  would 
be  offended  if  he  made  war  upon  Uncas  ?  "  The  Gov- 
ernor replied,  "  If  Uncas  had  done  him  or  his  friends 


116  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   wrong  and  would  not  give  satisfaction,  we  should  leave 
_^_;^   him  to  take  his  own  course."     That  the  high  spirited  sa- 
16  43.  chem  of  the  Narragansets  should  have  thus  asked  leave, 
as  it  were,  to  exercise   the  right  of  a  sovereign  Prince 
against  his   enemies,  is   exj^lained  by  the   existence  of  a 
treaty  formed  six  years  before,  when  he  aided  the  English 
to  crush  the  Pequots.     The  whole  career  of  this  haughty 
chieftain,  in  his  intercourse  with  the  English,  displays  the 
nicest  sentiment  of  honor,  blended  with  a  proper  regard 
for  his  own  dignity  and  absolute   sovereignty.     He  re- 
garded every  article  of  the  treaty  he  had  made  as  binding 
to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  not  only  in  its   terms  but  in 
its  spirit,  and  expected,  though  unfortunately,  and  as  it 
proved  fatally  to  himself,  to  receive  from  his  civilized  al- 
lies an  equally  honorable  conduct.     He  had  been   repeat- 
edly the  guest  of  the  authorities  at  Boston,  and  his  de- 
portment on  those  occasions,  as  well  as  in  his  own  domin- 
ions, when  receiving  embassies  from  the  English,  was  such 
as  to  win  the  confidence  and  command  the  admiration  of 
16  42.  those  with  whom  he  negotiated.     But  of  late  suspicions 
'^"e-    had  been  excited  in  the  mind  of  the   General   Court,  by 
intelligence  from   Connecticut,  spread,  as  it  appears,  by 
the  intrio-ues  of  the  Mohegans.'     At  a  summons  from  the 
Sept.     Court  Miantinomi  promptly  attended,  and  vindicated  his 
innocence;  demanding  to  be  confronted  Avith  his  accusers, 
and  charging  Uncas  as  the  author  of  the  calumny.     The 
Court  were  satisfied  and  Miantinomi  was  honorably  dis- 
missed.    A  fatal  act  of  kindness  soon  afterward  performed 
by  him,  in  selling  Shawomet  to  the  arch  heretic   Gorton, 
seems  to  have  inclined  the  Massachusetts  more  readily  to 
entertain  suspicions  of  their  high-souled  ally,  and  to  have 
had  no  little  weight  in  causing  his  death.     However  this 
Yf-AQ    may  be,  the  leading  events  are  well  known.     Uncas  at- 
July.     tacked  Sequasson.     Miantinomi  took  the  field  with  one 
thousand  warriors,  and  was  defeated  in  a  bloody  action. 

'  An  account  of  this  plot  is  given  in  3  M.  H.  C.  3,  161-4. 


MURDER    OF    MIANTINOMI.  117 

By  the  treachery  of  two  of  his  captains  he  was  delivered  chap. 
up  to  Uncas.  An  effort  to  obtain  his  ransom  was  made 
by  his  subjects,  and  also  by  Gorton.  Upon  this  Uncas 
carried  him  to  Hartford,  where  at  his  own  entreaty  he 
was  left  as  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  English,  till  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  met  at  Boston. 

By  them  his  fate  was  decided.     They  ''  were  all  of 
opinion  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  set  him  at  liberty, 
neither  had  we  sufficient  ground  for  us  to  put  him  to 
death.     In  this  dithculty  we  called  in  five  of  the  most  ju- 
dicious elders,  and  propounding  the  case  to  them,  they  all 
agreed  that  he  ought  to  be  put  to  death  ;  and  we  agreed 
that,  upon  the  return  of  the  commissioners  to  Hartford, 
they  should  send  for  Uncas  and  tell  him  our  determina- 
tion, that  Miantinomi  should  be  delivered  to  him  again, 
and  he  should  put  him  to  death  so  soon  as  he  came  within 
his    own  jurisdiction,   and  '  that   two  English  should  go 
along  with  him  to  see  the  execution,  and  that  if  any  In- 
dians should  invade  him  for  it,  we  would  send  men  to  de- 
fend him."     The  sentence  was  executed  in  its  spirit  and 
letter  by  the  savage  Uncas.  •     Thus  fell  the  most  power-    g^^^ 
ful  of  the  native  princes,  and  the  most  faithful  and  hon- 
orable ally  with  whom  the  English  had  ever  dealt.     Un- 
skilled in  theological  subtleties,  he  received  all  alike,  with 
a  noble  charity  which  might  be  called   Christian,  did  it 
not  contrast  so  strangely  with  the  cruelty  towards  their 
brethren,  of  those  who  claimed  the  name  and  asserted  the 
prerogative  of  the  "  Saints."     Perhaps  it  was  the  igno- 

1  The  particulars  of  this  atrocious  sacrifice  are  given  by  Trumbull,  Hist, 
of  Conn  i.  135.  A  justly  severe  criticism  on  the  authors  of  the  outrage  is 
penned  by  Mr.  Savage  in  a  note  on  pp.  158-161,  vol.  ii.,  edit.  1853,  of  Win- 
throp's  Journal.  The  scathing  remarks  of  the  editor,  honorable  alike  to  him- 
self  and  to  humanity,  come  with  a  better  graca  from  a  Massachusetts  man 
than  any  comments  from  a  son  of  Rhode  Island  could  do— who  will  find 
enou<rh  beside  to  denounce  in  the  conduct  of  the  Puritans  towards  his  State, 
although  nothing  more  needlessly  cruel  than  the  clerico-judicial  murder  hero 
recorded. 


118  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ranee  of  this  barbarian  upon  points  of  abstraet  belief 
,^_^_^  that  made  him  so  liberal  a  protector  of  "  heresy."  Tc 
1643.  him  and  to  his  uncle,  the  sage  Canonicus,  who  survived 
him  four  years,  Rhode  Island  owes  more  than  to  all  oth- 
ers, Christian  or  heathen,  for  the  preservation  of  the  lives 
of  her  founders.  The  immediate  executioner  of  this  re- 
morseless edict  was  rewarded  for  his  fidelity.  His  abet- 
tors had  reason  afterwards  to  deplore  their  impolitic 
haste.  >  ' 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  in  the  colonies, 
a  yet  more  dangerous  influence  was  at  work  in  England 
to  foil  the  efforts  of  Williams  at  obtaining  the  charter 
that  was  to  establish  the  independence  of  Rhode  Island. 
The  Massachusetts  government  were  attempting  to  an- 
nex, by  a  similar  patent,  the  whole  soil  of  Rhode  Island 
to  their  jurisdiction,  and  thereby  to  legalize  their  acts  of 
'^^^-  usurpation.  The  effort  was  so  far  successful  that  a  char- 
ter was  actually  obtained  from  the  Colonial  Committee, 
adding  to  the  patent  of  Massachusetts  the  whole  of  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  and  expressly  including 
the  Narraganset  country,  three  months  before  the  Rhode 
Island  charter  was  granted.  The  reasons  assigned  for  this 
act  in  the  body  of  the  instrument  are  the  excessive  charges 
to  which  the  Massachusetts  planters  had  been  subjected 
in  founding  their  colony,  its  rapid  growth,  requiring  an 
expansion  of  its  territory,  and  the  desire  to  Christianize 
the  natives.  By  what  means  this  patent  was  obtained,  or 
how,  so  soon  afterwards,  the  same  territory  was  erected 
into  an  independent  government,  and  no  reference  made 
to  the  previous  grant  to  Massachusetts,  'although  the 
boundaries  are  described  in  precisely  the  same  language 
in  the  two  documents,  or  yet  why  no  allusion  is  made  to 
it  on  the  records  of  Massachusetts,  for  more  than  twenty 
months  after  it  was  granted,  are  points  which  cannot  now 
be  determined.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  Narra- 
ganset patent,  as  it  was  termed,  provides  a  reservation  of 


THE  NABRAGANSET  PATENT.  119 

all  lands  previously  granted,  "  and  in  present  possession  chap. 
held  and  enjoyed  by  any  of  His  Majesty's  Protestant  sub-  ^^ 
jeets/'  while  the  Providence  charter,  dated  three  months  1<J43 
later,  contains  no  such  proviso.  In  the  Narraganset  pa- 
tent this  proviso,  so  far  as  relates  to  lands  "  heretofore 
lawfully  granted,"  is  mere  surplusage,  no  grants  ever  hav- 
ing been  made  within  the  described  territory  by  the  Brit- 
ish government,  unless  intended  to  secure  the  grantees 
under  the  original  Plymouth  company,  who,  as  before 
stated,  when  about  to  throw  up  their  charter,  had  made 
extensive  sales  within  what  they  claimed  as  their  pro- 
priety, among  which  was  one  to  the  Marquis  of  Hamil- 
ton, of  the  tract  from  Narraganset  Bay  to  Connecticut 
river,  including  all  the  Narraganset  country.  But  if  this 
was  the  intention  of  the  proviso,  why  was  it  not  also  em- 
bodied in  the  Providence  charter  ?  The  reservation  has 
an  important  bearing,  however,  in  its  relation  to  those  in 
actual  possession,  and  could  we  disconnect  the  two  por- 
tions of  this  clause  of  the  proviso,  it  would  explain  much 
that  now  appears  difficult  ;  for  it  would  show  that  it  was 
not  the  intention  of  the  Colonial  Committee  to  extend 
the  Massachusetts  authority  over  those  who  were  ac- 
tual residents  prior  to  the  tenth  of  December,  but  only 
that  the  natural  increase  of  the  Massachusetts  population, 
spreading  into  the  granted  territory,  might  carry  with 
them  the  protection  of  their  own  laws.  The  omission  of 
the  proviso  in  the  Providence  charter  strengthens  this 
view.  Mr.  Williams  had  no  doubt  represented  the  actual 
relations  between  the  Ehode  Island  settlers  and  their 
neighbors,  and  his  charter,  being  absolute  and  without 
reserve,  intentionally  cancelled  that  of  December  previous. 
The  protracted  silence  of  the  Massachusetts  government 
seems  likewise  to  favor  this  view.  The  first  notice  that  ^  "^ 
appears  of  the  existence  of  this  document,  is  found  in  a  27. 
letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Williams  at  Providence,  by  order 
of  the  council,  informing  him  that  they  had  "  lately"  re- 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ceived  this  charter  from  England,  warning  him  and  oth- 
,^,.^_;^  ers  not  to  exercise  jurisdiction  there,  or,  otherwise,  to  ex- 
1645.  hibit  their  authority  for  so  doing  at  the  General  Court, 
and  temporarily  remitting,  for  that  specific  purpose,  the 
decree  of  banishment.'  It  is  not  the  least  of  the  misfor- 
tunes resulting  from  the  destruction  of  the  Providence 
records  in  Philip's  war,  that  we  are  ignorant  what  reply 
was  made  to  this  arrogant  missive. 

Although  the  purchase  of  Providence  from  thq  Narra-. 
ganset  sachems  was  considered  by  the  contracting  parties 
as  complete,  the  settlers  were  careful  to  conciliate  the 
good-will  of  the  Indians  residing  within  their  limits,  or 
who  claimed  any  sort  of  interest  in  the  lands.  Those 
who  had  built  wigwams  or  tiUed  the  soil,  received  gratui- 
ties in  addition  to  what  had  been  paid  to  the  sachems, 
and  even  the  claim  to  sovereignty  over  a  part  of  the  land, 
asserted  by  Massasoit,  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  a  tribe 
subordinate  to  the  Narragansets,  several  years  after  the 
164  6  purchase,  although  unfounded,  was  virtually  admitted, 
and  compensation  made  to  him  by  the  colonists.  The 
claim  embraced  portions  of  what  is  now  Smithfield,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  rights  of  the  Wampanoags 
ever  extended  west  of  the  Seekonk  river.  A  committee, 
of  which  Roger  Williams  was  the  head,  visited  the  sa- 
„  chem  to  treat  for  this  pretended  claim.  The  report  of 
lu.  their  negotiation  i)resents  a  curious  picture  of  Indian 
shrewdness  and  importunity.  Many  years  elapsed  before 
the  last  Indian  titles  were  extinguished.  Confirmatory 
deeds  from  the  successors  of  the  first  grantors  were  taken, 
every  new  deed  requiring  some  further  gratuity. 

In  their  sales  to  each  other  the  colonists  pursued  a 
plan  which,  however  ill-adapted  it  might  be  to  our  pres- 
ent modes  of  doing  business,  had  the  advantages  of  brevity 
and  publicity  in  a  striking  degree,  and  perhaps  better  pre- 

'  The  letter  is  prmted  in  R.  I.  Col.   Rec,  i.,  133,  and  in  Mass.  Col.  Rec., 
iii..  4'J. 


GROWTH    OF    THE    COLONY.  121 

eluded  the  possibility  of  fraud  than  any  methods  that  have  chap. 
since  been  adopted.     The  records  for  many  years  contain  .J.^^ 
simply  the  date  of  the  transfer,  the  names  of  the  grantor  16  4  6. 
and  grantee,  and  the  location  and  bounds  of  the  land.     A 
dozen  lines  suffice  to  contain  the  whole  transaction.     No 
consideration  is  named,  and  no  verbose  reiteration  of  con- 
veyance amplify  the  deed  to  the  tedious  length  of  modern 
instruments.      These  transfers  were  made,  or  acknowl- 
edged, in  open  town  meeting,  and  if  the  town  approved 
the  sale  they  voted  to  record  the  deed,  which  made  the 
conveyance  valid,  but  if  they  disapproved  the  whole  was 
void. 

The  population  of  the  colony  rapidly  increased;  a 
natural  effect  of  the  broad  system  of  religious  freedom  es- 
tablished by  its  founder,  which  made  it  the  refuge  of 
many  who  differed  from  the  state  creed  of  its  neighbors. 
President  Styles,  in  liis  diary,  says  that  at  this  time  there 
were  in  Providence  and  its  vicinity  one  hundred  and  one 
men  fit  to  bear  arms.  This  corresponds  precisely  to  the 
w^hole  number  of  proprietors  of  house  lots,  in  the  last 
division  of  the  lands  made  seventy-three  years  later.  But 
besides  the  original  purchasers,  and  those  who  were  ad- 
mitted by  them  to  an  equal  share  in  the  franchise,  many 
were  received  as  townsmen  w^ho  had  no  interest  in  the 
lands,  and  others  were  admitted  as  twenty-five  acre  or 
quarter-right  purchasers,  who  in  all  subdivisions  of  land  '6*^-6 
received  one-quarter  as  much  as  a  full  proprietor.  The  19. 
terms  of  admission  to  the  propriety  varied  very  much  at 
different  times.  The  latest  agreement  upon  the  records 
is  signed  by  twenty-eight  quarter-right  proprietors,  who, 
having  received  a  free  grant  of  twenty-five  acres  each  and 
a  proportionate  right  of  common,  promise  to  obey  the 
laws,  and  not  to  claim  any  right  to  the  purchase,  nor  any 
privilege  of  vote,  until  they  shall  be  received  as  freemen 
of  the  town.' 

'  Staple's  Annals,  60. 


122  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  With  80  thrifty  a  growth  and  with  a  similar  increase 

^_ ,  in  the  other  settlements,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why 

164  6.  a  united  government  was  not  organized  immediately  upon 
receipt  of  the  charter  from  England.  Yet  more  than  two 
and  a  half  years  elapsed  before  this  event  occurred.  The 
patent  prescribed  no  form  of  government,  nor  any  mode 
of  organization.  All  was  left  to  the  people,  with  the  full- 
est powers  to  adopt  and  act  under  it  as  they  pleased.  It 
was  a  task  as  delicate  and  difficult  as  it  was  imperative 
to  consolidate  the  towns.  A  spirit  of  compromise  and 
mutual  concession  was  requisite  for  the  work.  Although 
the  same  causes  had  led  to  these  settlements,  they  were 
independent  of  each  other  in  every  respect,  managing 
their  affairs  in  their  own  town  meetings,  and  conducting 
for  themselves,  as  best  they  could,  their  disputes  with  the 
Puritan  colonies.  This  very  independence  must  have 
presented  obstacles,  which  local  or  personal  jealousies 
would  enhance.  The  distracted  condition  of  the  mother 
country  extended  in  some  measure  to  the  colonies,  where 
parties  for  the  King  and  for  the  Parliament  existed,  al- 
though with  less  violence  than  in  England,  and  both  par- 
ties would  fear  the  effect  upon  their  charter  liberties,  in 
case  of  the  victory  of  either.  These  reasons  may  account 
for  the  delay  which  otherwise  would  appear  inexplicable. 
The  news  of  the  Narraganset  patent  doubtless  had  an 
immediate  influence  in  hastening  the  consolidation  so  es- 
sential to  their  preservation  and  to  the  maintenance  of 
16  4  7.  their  cherished  principles.  At  length  all  obstacles  were 
so  far  removed  that  the  four  towns.  Providence,  Ports- 
mouth, Newport  and  Warwick  ajDpointed  committees  to 
meet  at  Portsmouth  on  the  eighteenth  of  May,'  A  town 
meeting  was  held  in  Providence,  at  which  Koger  WiUiams 
May  presided,  and  a  committee  of  ten  men  were  chosen  for 
16-      this  purpose."^     The  committee  received  full  power  to  act 

'  It  appears  by  the  records  that  the  Assembly  was  held  on  the  19th,  20th 
and  21st. 

'  These  were  Gregoiy  Dexter,  William  Wickenden,  Thomas  Olney,  Rob- 


INSTRUCTIONS    TO    THE    COMMITTEE.  123 

for  the  town  in  arranging  the  General  Court,  in  choosing  chap. 
general  officers,  and,  in  case  the  Court  should  consist  of  „J[^ 
less  than  ten  from  each  town,  to  select  from  themselves  1647. 
this  lesser  number,  to  whom  the  same  powers  are  given. 
They  were  instructed  to  obtain  a  cojiy  of  the  charter,  to 
signify  their  submission  to  the  terms  of  the  charter,  and 
to  such  laws  as  might  be  adopted  under  it,  to  secure  for 
the  town  the  right  to  manage  its  own  affairs,  trials  of 
causes  and  executions,  except  such  as  might  be  reserved 
for  general  trials,  and  to  elect  its  own  officers,  and  to  see 
that  the  powers  of  general  and  local  officers  were  clearly 
defined,  to  provide  for  appeals  of  causes  to  the  General 
Court,  and,  in  case  charters  of  incorporation  were  given 
to  the  towns  for  the  conduct  of  their  local  business,  to 
procure  one  for  Providence  suited  to  promote  the  general 
peace  or  union  of  the  colony,  and  securing  the  equal 
rights  of  the  town  in  general  affairs.  The  instructions 
close  by  wishing  them  "  a  comfortable  voyage,  a  happy 
success  and  a  safe  return."  Thus  commissioned,  the  com- 
mittee, accompanied  probably  by  a  large  proportion  of  the 
population  of  the  town,  embarked  in  canoes  on  their 
perilous  "  voyage."  The  result  of  their  labors  opens  a 
new  chapter  in  our  work,  and  commences  the  history  of 
"  The  Incorporation  of  Providence  Plantations  in  Narra- 
ganset  Bay  in  New  England." 

ert  Williams,  Richard  Waterman,  Roger  Williams,   William  Field,  John 
Green,  John  Smith  and  John  Lippitt. 


124  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


CHAPTER    V. 

HISTORY  OF  AQUEDNECK  FROM  ITS  SETTLEMENT,  MAR^II,  1638,' 
TO  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  UNDER  THE 
FIRST  CHARTER,  MAY,  1647. 

CHAP.  The  civil  compact  formed  at  Providence  and  signed 

.—,1^  by  nineteen  *  of  the  Aquedneck  settlers  was  as  follows  : 

1637-8.  a  rpj^g  ^^-^  ^      ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  month,  1G38.     We  whose  names 
March  •'  '  . 

7.      are  underwritten  do  here  solemnly,  in  the  presence  of 

Jehovah,  incorporate  ourselves  into  a  Bodie  Politick,  and 
as  he  shall  help,  will  submit  our  persons,  lives  and  estates 
unto  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord 
of  Lords,  and  to  all  those  perfect  and  most  absolute  laws 
of  his  given  us  in  his  holy  word  of  truth,  to  be  guided 
and  judged  thereby. — Exod.  xxiv.,  3,  4  ;  2  Chron.  xi.,  3  ; 
2  Kings  xi.,  17." 

The  account  of  the  purchase  of  the  island,  through 
the  joint  influence  of  Koger  Williams  and  Sir  Henry 
Vane,  with  the  Narraganset  sachems,  has  already  been 
given.  The  Indian  name  of  the  place  where  the  settle- 
ment was  commenced,  on  the  northeast  part  of  the  island, 

*  These  were  Wm.  Coddington,  John  Clarke,  Win.  Hutchinson,  John 
Cogge^hall,  Wm.  Aspinwall,  Samuel  Wilbore,  John  Porter,  John  Sanford, 
Ed.  Hutchinson,  jr.,  Thomas  Savage,  Wm.  Dyre,  Wm.  Freeborne,  Philip 
Shearman,  John  Wallcer,   Richard  Carder,  Wm.   Baulstone,  Ed.  Hutchinson, 

sen.,  Henry  Bull,  Randall  Holden.     Holden's  name  is  separated  from 

the  others  by  a  line.  He  is  believed  to  be  the  one  not  concerned  in  the  pur- 
chase, as  his  name  and  that  of  Roger  Williams  are  .signed  as  witnesses  to  the 
deed.  There  were  eighteen  original  proprietors  and  nineteen  signers  of  the 
compact.  See  Bull's  Memoiirs  of  Rhode  Island  in  R.  I.  Republican,  1832 
AprU  17. 


24. 


THE    AQUEDNEOK    SETTLERS.  125 

was  Pocasset,  and  was  retained  for  some  time  by  the  set-  chap. 
tiers,  until  changed  to  Portsmouth.  This  name  was  ^_ 
equally  apjilied  by  the  Indians  to  the  opposite  shore  on  1637-8. 
the  main  land,  and  probably  was  the  name  of  the  narrow 
strait  between  them,  across  which  a  ferry,  now  known  as 
Howland's  ferry,  was  soon  after  established.  The  consid- 
eration paid  for  the  fee  of  Aquedneck,  and  for  the  grass 
on  the  other  islands,  was  forty  fathoms  of  white  peage, 
besides  which  ten  coats  and  twenty  hoes  were  given  to 
the  resident  Indians  to  vacate  the  lands,  and  five  fathoms 
of  wampum  to  the  local  sachem.  The  jjurchasers  adopted 
the  same  policy  as  those  of  Providence  towards  the  In- 
dians, giving  gratuities  to  all  who  claimed  any  interest  in 
the  lands.  Some  of  the  purchasers  expressing  dissatis- 
faction that  the  title  stood  in  the  name  of  William  Cod- 
dington,  in  1652  he  executed  a  joint  deed  to  them,  as  Mr. 
Williams  had  done  for  the  same  reason  in  Providence. 

Callender  says  that  the  Aquedneck  settlers  "  were  Pu- 
ritans of  the  highest  form,"  and  we  know  that  their  op- 
ponents in  Massachusetts  called  the  Antinomian  doctrine's 
"•Calvinism  run  to  seed."  The  peculiar  phraseology  of 
their  civil  compact  verifies  the  remark  of  Callender.  So 
prominent  indeed  is  the  religious  character  of  this  instru- 
ment that  it  has  by  some  been  considered,  although  erro- 
neously, as  being  itself  "  a  church  covenant,  which  also 
embodied  a  civil  compact.'"  Their  plans  were  more  ma- 
tured at  the  outset  than  those  of  the  Providence  settlers. 
To  establish  a  colony  independent  of  every  other  was  their 
avowed  intention,  and  the  organization  of  a  regular  gov- 
ernment was  their  initial  step.  That  their  object  was  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  Christian  State,  where  all  who 
bore  the  name  might  worship  God  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  conscience,  untrammelled  by  written  articles  of 
faith,  and  unawed  by  the  civil  power,  is  proved  by  their 
declarations  and  by  their  subsequent  conduct.     The  dif- 

*  Minutes  of  the  Warren  Baptist  Aasociation,  1849. 


126  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF   RHODE  ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ference  between  the  Aquedneck  settlers  and  the  followers 
of  Koger  Williams  upon  this  point  was,  that  the  latter 
did  not  confine  his  principles  of  toleration  to  men  profess- 
ing Christianity,  but  allowed  room  for  those  of  every  faith, 
Jew  or  Gentile,  Christian  or  Pagan.  The  views  of  Clarke 
and  Coddington  were  veiy  far  in  advance  of  the  age,  too 
far  for  the  peace  of  the  colony  in  its  intercourse  with  the 
neighboring  provinces.  The  doctrine  of  "  soul  liberty," 
as  established  by  Williams,  went  still  ftirther,  carrying  h^is 
premises  to  their  logical  conclusion,  and  has  come  to  be 
the  recognized  doctrine  of  the  present  age -on  this  conti- 
nent. The  distinction  between  the  two,  although  having 
no  practical  effect  at  that  time,  is  important  to  be  borne 
in  mind,  for  it  will  explain  some  points  in  the  later  his- 
tory of  the  State  which  might  otherwise  appear  inconsist- 
ent. The  Aquedneck  settlements  for  many  years  in- 
creasd  more  rapidly  than  those  on  the  main  land.  The 
accessions  appear  to  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  from  a 
superior  class  in  point  of  education  and  social  standing, 
which  for  more  than  a  century  secured  to  them  a  control- 
ling influence  in  the  colony.  Many  of  the  leading  men 
were  more  imbued  with  the  Puritan  spirit,  acquired  by 
their  longer  residence  in  Massachusetts,  which  sympa- 
thized somewhat  more  with  the  law  than  with  the  liberty 
element  in  the  embryo  State.^  The  evidence  of  this  is 
frequent,  and  its  existence  was  very  early  displayed.  It 
is  foreshadowed  in  the  language  of  the  compact,  and  in  a 
few  years  was  realized  in  action.  It  had  its  advantages, 
however,  and  the  chief  of  these  were  that  it  enabled  the 
people  at  once  to  organize  a  government,  and  strengthened 
them  to  preserve  it  better  than  those  of  Providence,  while 
it  also  was  a  means  of  securing  and  extending  their  influ- 
ence over  the  other  settlements,  who  looked  up  to  them 
in  many  things,  and  received  from  them  their  first  code 

'  Judge  Durfee'8  discourse  before  the  R.  L  Hist.  Soc.,  January,  1847,  pp 
15,  16. 


ORGANIZATION    OF    GOVERNMENT.  127 

of  laws.     But  we  are  anticipating  events  in  commenting  chap. 
upon  principles.  "^C — 

Of  the    nineteen   signers   of  the   compact,   William  1637-8. 
Hutchinson  died  on  the  island,  the  other  two  Hutchin- 
sons,  Savage  and  Aspinwall,  afterward  returned  to  Massa- 
chusetts, were  well  received  and  promoted  to  office  there. 
All  of  them,  except  Coddington  and  Holden,  had  been 
disarmed  in  the  famous  act  of  November  previous,  but 
the  shafts  of  party  malice  still  followed  them  in  their  re- 
treat, and  five  days  after  the   compact  was   signed  Wm.  March 
Coddington  and  ten  of  his  companions,  with  their  fami-     ^^' 
lies,  were  formally  banished  by  the  G-eneral  Court.'     This 
event  had  no  influence  on  their  plans.     Their  government 
was  already  organized  at  a  full  meeting  of  the  signers,  at 
which  Wm.  Aspinwall  was  chosen  Secretary,  and  Wm.       '^• 
Coddington   was   elected,   and   took  his  engagement    as 
Judge,  or  chief  magistrate,  and  Wm.  Dyre  was  elected 
Clerk.     This  meeting  was  held  in  Providence.     A  few     24 
days  afterward  the  purchase  of  the  island  was  completed, 
and  the  settlement  very  shortlj^  commenced.     Town  meet- 
ings were  frequent.     The  records  are  full  and  pretty  well 
preserved,  so  that  we  are  enabled  to  know  more  concern-  16  3  8, 
ing  their  early  movements  than  we  can  of  those  at  Provi- 
dence.    But  a  small  number  of  acts  were  passed  at  each 
meeting,  relating  to  matters  of  immediate  concern. 

At  the  first  meeting  the  earliest  recorded  act  passed  ^ay. 
in  Rhode  Island  related  to  the  admission  of  freemen,  that  '  13- 
none  should  be  admitted  as  such  but  by  consent  of  the 
Body,  and  who  submit  to  the  established  government. 
The  other  acts  fix  the  location  of  the  town,  to  be  "  build- 
ed  at  the  spring  ;  "  order  that  every  inhabitant  should  be 
fully  equipped  with  certain  arms  ;  establish  a  site  for  the 
meeting  house  ;  and  make  a  temporary  apportionment  of 

*  Their  names  were  Wm.  Coddington,  John  Coggeshall,  Wm.  Baulstone, 
Ed.' Hutchinson,  Samuel  Wilbore,  John  Porter,  Henry  Bull,  Philip  Shearman, 
Wm.  Freeborue  and  Richard  Carder. — M.  C.  R.,  i.,  223. 


128  HlSTORy    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  land  to  each  inhaljitant,  of  an  acre  of  meadow  for  every 
,_,.^:^  beast  and  sheep,  and  an  acre  and  a  half  for  a  horse,  which 
163  8.  la.tter  act  was  afterward  repealed,  and  a  more  definite  di- 
vision made.     The  town  was  built  around  the  head  of  the 
pond,  or  cove,  from  which  there  was  formerly  an  outlet  to 
the  bay  deep  enough  for  small  vessels  to  enter.     The  re- 
mains of  this  first  settlement  may  still  be  traced.     Some- 
what later  a  new  town  was  laid  out  more  to  the  south  and 
east,  called  Newtown,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  old,  which 
■j^riy    name  that  part  of  Portsmouth  still  retains.     Th€  follow-^ 
20.     ing  week  the  town  was  laid  out,  six-acre  lots  were  as- 
signed to  the  proprietors,  and  provision  made  for  record- 
ing land  titles.     An  inn,  brewery  and  general  grocery  "  to 
sell  wines  and  strong  waters  and  such  necessary  provisions 
as  may  be  useful,"   was  also  established,  to  be  in  charge 
of  Wtn.  Baulston.     This  was  doubtless  the  first  tavern 
in  the  State.     A  military  organization  was  the  next  ob- 

June    iect  of  attention.     At  their  third  meeting  officers  for  the 
27. 

train  bands  were  chosen.'  Already  the  colony  had  re- 
ceived accessions  to  its  numbers.  Land  on  the  island  had 
been  taken  up,  for  which  the  new-comers  were  required 
to  payinto  the  town  treasury  two  shillings  an  acre,  which 
price  was  fixed  for  all  future  inhabitants.  Two  treasur- 
ers, William  Hutchinson  and  John  Coggeshall,  were 
chosen  for  one  year.  The  highways  were  ordered  to 
be  repaired,  and  a  fine  of  one  shilling  was  laid  upon  all 
who  should  be  fifteen  minutes  late  at  town  meeting,  or 
should  leave  it  without   permission  before  adjournment. 

Aug.    The  first  admission  of  freemen  occurred  in  August '^  and 
20. 

at  the  same  time   "  a  pair  of  stockes  ^  and  a  whipping 

■  Wm.  Baulston  and  Ed.  Hutchinson,  sergeants  ;  Samuel  Wilbore,  clerk  ; 
Randal  Ilolden  and  Henry  Bull,  corporals. 

-  There  were  four  admitted,  viz.,  Richard  Dummer,  Nicholas  Easton,  Wm. 
Brenton  and  Robert  Harding. 

'  This  was  a  pet  punishment  with  the  landed  aiistocracy  of  the  old  coun- 
try, and  early  transplanted  to  the  new.  The  condition  of  English  society 
which  tolerated  the  stocks,  is  graphically  described  by  Sir  E.  Bulwer  Lytton 


12. 


FIRST    MILITIA    TRAINING.  129 

post  '  "  were  ordered  to  be  made.     Three  days  afterward  a  chap. 
prison,  twelve  feet  by  ten,  was  ordered  to  be  built,  thus  ,^_^ 
completing  the  preparations  for  the  vindication  of  violated  16  3  8, 
law,  and  Randal  Holden  was  ai3i3ointed  Marshal  of  the      23. 
colony  for  one  year.     They  were  very  soon  required,  for  in  a 
few  days  eight  men  having  committed  "  a  riot  of  drunken-    Sept. 
ness,"  were  brought  before  the  town  meeting  by  warrant, 
and  variously  fined,  and  three  of  them  sentenced  to  the      15. 
stocks.     Viewers  of  corn  and  other  produce  were  chosen, 
whose,  duty  was  to  examine  the   crops,  and  report  any 
damage  that  might  be  done  to  them  by  cattle  running  at 
large.     The  object  of  this  law  was  to  enable  those  whose 
crops  might  suffer  in  that  way  to  recover  damages  before 
the  court  from  the  owners  of  the  cattle.     The  military    ^^^ 
naving  before  been  organized,  as  stated,  a  general  train- 
ing was  appointed,  at  which  all  men  between  the  ages  of       5. 
sixteen  and  fifty  years  were  warned  to  attend  on  the  fol- 
lowing Monday.     This  no  doubt  was  the  first  militia  mus- 
ter  ever  held  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  growth  of  the  town  now  required  greater  pru- 
dence in  the  apportionment  of  land.     The  size  of  house 
lots  was  fixed  at  three  acres,  being  one-half  the  quantity    Nov. 
held  by  each  of  the  original  inhabitants.     A  baker  was 
appointed  for  the  plantation,  from  whom  the  town  was  to 

in  "  My  Novel,"  where  the  reader  will  find  in  the  first  three  hooks  some 
scenes  related  such  as  this  island  may  have  witnessed  two  centuries  ago  ; 
always  excepting  the  one  in  book  third,  chapter  ix.,  where  the  inimitable  Ric-i 
cabocca  pays  the  forfeit  of  benevolent  curiosity,  by  being  caught  in  the  stocks, 
himself,  and  is  thus  found  by  his  friends,  quietly  meditating  under  his  red  um- 
brella. There  may  have  been  some  Lenny  Fairchilds  in  Rhode  Island,  but  no 
counterpart  to  the  fatherly  and  philosophical  Italian.  I  am  sure  the  reader 
will  pardon  this  note  if  it  leads  him  to  peruse  the  admirable  sketch  of  English 
life  here  referred  to,  and  if  he  is  already  familiar  with  it  the  recollection  will 
serve  to  relieve  his  mind  from  the  dry  record  of  actual  history. 

'  This  punishment  nominally  existed  until  a  recent  period  in  this  State. 
The  last  public  infliction  of  it  was  on  the  Court  House  parade  in  Providence, 
July  14th,  1837,  for  horse  stealing.  It  had  long  been  in  disuse  imtil  this  re- 
currence of  it  aroused  pubHc  attention  to  its  legal  existence,  when  it  was 
goon  after  struck  from  the  statute  book.     It  still  exists  in  many  of  the  States. 

VOL.  I — 9 


130  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

purchase  the  bread  used  at  the  meeting  of  the  courts.  A 
few  days  after  we  find  that  a  water-mill  was  projected  by 
16  38.  Mr.  Nicholas  Esson/  for  the  use  of  the  plantation,  and  a 
16.  grant  of  land  and  timber  made  to  him  for  this  purpose. 
The  earliest  case  of  an  absconding  debtor  in  the  colony 
occurred  at  this  time.  John  Luther,  a  carpenter,  fled 
from  the  island,  leaving  sundry  debts  unpaid.  His  prop- 
erty was  duly  appraised  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  his 
creditors.  The  disposition  to  regulate  trade  by  establish- 
ing prices  at  which  articles  should  be  bought  "and  sold, 
which  had  already  given  much  trouble  in  Massachusetts, 
and  continued  to  do  so  until  the  repeal  of  the  statute  left 
such  matters  to  regulate  themselves,  showed  itself  early 
among  the  Portsmouth  settlers.  Four  "  truckmasters," 
as  they  were  called,  were  appointed  for  the  venison  trade 
with  the  Indians,  and  the  prices  fixed  upon  this  staple 
article  of  food  were  limited  to  a  penny  ha'penny  a  pound 
to  be  paid  for  it,  and  two  pence  a  pound  as  the  selling 
price.  One  farthing  a  pound,  being  one-half  the  profit 
thus  secured  to  the  dealers,  was  to  be  paid  into  the  treas- 
ury.2 

Up  to  this  time  the  government  had  been  a  pure  de- 

1638-9  JT  o  J. 

Jan.'  mocracy.  All  acts  had  been  passed  in  public  meetings 
^-  of  the  whole  body.  The  Judge  and  Clerk  had  acted  only 
as  chairman  and  secretary  of  the  assembled  townsmen, 
by  whom  all  laws  had  been  passed,  and  all  i^roceedings, 
■whether  legislative,  judicial,  or  executive,  conducted.  A 
change  now  took  place  by  appointing  three  Elders  to  as- 

'  The  name  was  also  spelt  Eason  and  Easton  in  the  records.  This  was 
the  same  who  with  his  two  sons,  Peter  and  John,  built  the  first  house  in  New- 
port, six  months  later. 

*  A  net  profit  of  about  seventeen  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested,  is  here 
allowed,  and  is  a  better  margin  than  is  usually  left  to  the  dealer  under  re- 
stricted laws  of  trade.  It  also  compares  well  with  average  results  of  modern 
tiaffic.  In  this  case  the  capital  was  all  that  was  required.  Deer  and  Indians 
were  both  abundant,  so  that  but  little  labor  and  no  skill  were  needed  on  the 
part  of  the  "  tnickmasters." 


PROCEEDINGS    IN   TOWN    MEETINGS.  131 

sist  the  Judge  in  his  judicial  duties,  to  frame  laws,  to  cbap. 
have  the  entire  charge  of  the  public  interests,  and  with 
the  Judge  to  govern  the  colony.  These  officers  were  to 
render  an  account  of  their  proceedings  at  quarterly  meet- 
ings of  the  town,  where  their  acts  were  subject  to  revi- 
sion, or  repeal,  if  disapproved,  A  jealousy  of  delegated 
power  is  here  apparent,  like  that  which  existed  in  the 
Providence  plantation,  and  which  presents  a  marked  con- 
trast to  the  feeling  then  prevalent  in  the  community 
which  they  had  so  lately  left.  Sealed  ballots  were  used 
at  this  election.  Nicholas  Easton,  John  Coggeshall  and 
William  Brenton  were  chosen  Elders,  and  their  election 
was  duly  ratified.  At  the  next  meeting  the  town  united 
with  the  Judge  and  Elders  to  choose  a  Constable  and  24.* 
town  Sergeant,  and  to  define  their  duties.  Samuel  Wil- 
bore  was  elected  for  the  former  office,  whose  duties  were 
to  see  that  peace  be  kept,  and  to  inform  of  any  breaches 
thereof,  with  power  to  command  aid  for  that  purpose  if 
needed.  Henry  Bull  was  elected  Sergeant,  to  execute 
orders  of  the  Court,  to  serve  warrants  and  to  keep  the 
prison,  with  similar  power  to  demand  aid  from  any  per- 
sons in  the  discharge  of  his  office.  The  business  of  the 
town  for  the  ensuing  three  months  was  transacted  by  the 
Judge  and  Elders.  By  their  act  new  comers  were  admit- 
ted as  inhabitants,  and  complaints  for  exaction  in  trade  7.  ' 
were  redressed.  A  singular  proceeding  was  taken  in  re- 
gard to  William  Aspinwall,  upon  whom  suspicions  of  se- 
dition against  the  State  rested.  Neither  the  grounds  of 
suspicion  nor  the  nature  of  the  sedition  is  stated,  but  an 
Order  was  issued  forbidding  farther  work  upon  a  boat  that 
he  was  having  built.  This  kind  of  security  for  good  con- 
duct seems  to  have  been  usual,  for  one  Osamund  Doutch, 
who  at  the  same  Court  was  admitted  an  inhabitant,  was 
likewise  complained  of  for  some  wrong-doing,  and  his 
shallop  pledged  in  a  bond  of  indemnity  that  he  was  re- 
quired to  give.     Probably  boats  were  considered  the  most 


I3z  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

available  and  desirable  property  in  an  island  settlement.' 
Swine  were  considered  a  nuisance,  and  their  removal  or 
confinement  was  early  provided  for.  They  were  ordered 
to  be  sent  six  miles  distant  from  the  town,  or  to  some  ad- 
jacent island,  or  else  were  to  be  shut  up  so  as  to  be  inof- 
fensive, and  subsequently  the  act  was  enforced  by  a  fine 
of  two  pence  for  each  hog  that  was  found  in  the  town,  af- 
ter four  days.  A  cattle  pound  was  also  provided.  To 
guard  against  invasions  from  the  Indians,  and  likewise  to 
secure  the  peace  of  the  settlement  from  the  chances  of 
riot,  an  alarm  was  established.  The  firing  of  three  mus- 
kets, with  the  cry  of  "  Alarum,"  was  the  signal  upon 
which  all  the  inhabitants  were  to  repair  to  the  house  of 
the  Judge. 

The  colony  had  now  so  greatly  increased   that  a  divi- 

2^-      sion  was  deemed  expedient.    A  meeting  was  held,  at  which 

the  following  agreement  was  entered  into  by  the  signers, 

by  whom  the  settlement  of  Newport  was  commenced  on 

the  south-west  side  of  the  island. 

"PocASSET.  Oil  the  28th  of  the  2d,  1639. 
"  -It  is  agreed  by  us  whose  hands  are  underwritten,  to 
propagate  a  Plantation  in  the  midst  of  the  Island  or  else- 
where ;  And  doe  engage  ourselves  to  bear  cquall  charges, 
answerable  to  our  strength  and  estates  in  common  ;  and 
that  our  determinations  shall  be  by  major  voice  of  judge 
and  elders  ;  the  Judge  to  have  a  double  voice. 

"  PRESENT  : 
AVM.  CODDINGTON,  Judge. 
Nicholas  Easton, 
John  Coggesoall, 
William  Brenton, 
John  Clarke,  '■  Elders. 

Jeremy  Clehke, 
Thomas  Hazard, 
Henry  Bull, 

William  Dyre,  Clerk:' 

•  As  we  hear  no  more  of  the  charge  of  sedition,  we  may  infer  that  it  was 


THE    SECOND    COMPACT    AT    POCASSET.  133 

All  the  members  of  the  Pocasset  government,  it  will  chap 
be  observed,  are  among  the  emigrants.     They  carried  with  ^^ 
them  their  records  up  to  this  date.     Why  they  did  this  16  3  9. 
does  not  appear,  for  although  they  were  the  most  promi- 
nent men,  and  their  settlement  soon  became  the  leading 
one  in  the  State,  yet  by  far  the  largest   number  then  re- 
siding at  Pocasset  remained.     Thus  deprived  at  once  of 
their  government  and  their  records,  a  new  organization 
was  necessary,  and  two  days  afterward  they  formed  a  new     .     ., 
compact  as  follows  :  "  We  whose  names  are  under[writ-      30, 
ten  do  acknowledge]  ourselves  the  legal  subjects  of  [His 
Majesty]  King  Charles,  and  in  his  name  [do  hereby  bind] 
ourselves  into  a  civill  body  politicke  and  [do  submit]  unto 
his  lawes  according  to  matters  of  justice.'"     Thirty-one 
names  are  signed  to  this  document,'^  following  which,  of 


unsustained,  and  that  the  boat  was  allowed  to  be  finished,  for  about  three 
months  later,  28th  April,  it  was  attached  for  debt,  which  is  the  only  com- 
plaint ever  afterward  brought  against  Aspinwall.  He  occupied  many  positions 
of  trust  iu  the  colony.  Early  in  1642,  probably  in  April,  he  returned  to 
Massachusetts,  and  "  upon  his  petition  and  certificate  of  good  carriage  was 
restored  again  to  his  former  liberty  of  freedom."     M.  C.  R. .  ii.  3. 

^  The  record  is  much  mutilated  and  defaced.  The  words  in  brackets  are 
interpolated  to  preserve  the  sense.  These  interpolations  are  all"  at  the  end  of 
the  lines  where  the  edge  of  the  sheet  is  torn  off.  The  remaining  words  are 
very  legible. 

"  Wm.  Hutchinson,  Samuel  Gorton,  Samuel  Hutchinson,  John  Wickes, 
Richard  Maggson,  Thomas  Spicer,  John  Roome,  John  Geofie,  (Sloffe.')  Thom- 
as Beddar,  Erasmus  BuUocke,  Sampson  Shotten,  Ralph  Earle,  Robert  Potter, 
Nathanyell  Potter,  George  Potter,  Wm.  Heavens  (W.  T.  Havens  ?)  George 
Shaw  (Chare  ?)  George  Lawton,  Anthony  Paine,  Jobe  Hawkins,  Richard 
Awarde,  John  More  (Mow  ?)  Nicholas  Browne,  ^Ym.  Richardson,  John  Trippe, 
Thomas  Layton,  Robert  Stainton,  John  Brigges,  James  Davis.  In  R.  I.  C.  R. 
t.  70  but  twenty-nine  names  are  given.  The  other  two  on  the  Record  have  a 
pen  mark  across  them  as  if  to  expunge  them  from  the  list,  and  probably  for 
this  reason  are  not  copied  iu  the  printed  records.  One  of  these  names  is  that 
of  Wm.  Aspinwall,  who,  on  the  same  day,  was  chosen  one  of  the  assistants, 
and  continued,  for  three  years,  a  resident  of  the  colony.  His  signature  be- 
longs there,  and  why  erased  we  cannot  say  unless  it  was  done  after  his  return 
to  Massachusetts  in  1642.  We  infer  the  same,  although  with  less  positive 
proof  of  the  other  erasure,  and  hence  state  the  number  of  signers  at  thirty- 
one,  two  more  than  the  printed  records  show. 


134  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,  tlie  same  date,  is  their  agreement  of  government.  "  Ac- 
^  ■       cording  to  the   true  intent  of  the  [foregoing,  wee]  whose 

1  0  3  y.  names  are  above  perticularly  [recorded,  do  agree]  jointly 
or  by  the  major  voice  to  g[overn  ourselves  by  the]  Rulei* 
or  Judge  amongst  us  in  all  [transactions]  for  the  space 
and  term  of  one  [year,  he]  behaving  himself  according  to 
the  t[enor  of  the  same.]"  They  then  proceeded  to  elect 
William  Hutcliinson  Judge.  The  mutilation  of  the  rec- 
ords has  destroyed  the  name,  and  no  clue  to  it  is  given  in 
any  of  the  subsequent  pages,  but  Winthrop  has  fortu- 
nately preserved  it.^     Seven  assistants  were  also  chosen, 

V 

"The  writer  devoted  a  whole  summer  to  studying  and  making  extracts 
from  the  Portsmouth  records,  a  year  before  they  were  printed  by  the  State, 
sand  may  be  permitted  to  follow  the  results  of  his  own  researches,  even  where 
they  differ  somewhat  from  the  version  since  printed  by  Authority.  In  tbe 
foregoing  list,  where  the  writer's  version  differs  from  that  of  the  printed  rec- 
ords, the  name,  as  given  in  the  latter,  is  enclosed  in  brackets.  It  will  be  ob- 
ser^'ed  that  there  are  four  of  these  variations,  besides  the  two  first  explained, 
which  require  that  the  author  should  state  further  reasons,  besides  the  evi- 
dence of  his  own  eyes,  why  he  prefers  the  versions  here  retained.  The 
names  of  Goffc,  Shaw  and  More  occur  often  on  the  records,  and  are  perpetu- 
ated in  a  very  numerous  descent  at  this  day  on  the  island,  while  the  names 
as  printed  are  nowhere  else  to  be  found  or  traced.  W.  T.  Havens  should  be 
Wm.  Havens,  as  afterward  appears  on  the  records.  Middle  names  were  not 
in  use  in  that  age.  The  difficulty  of  deciphering  these  ancient  records  is 
greatly  increased  by  the  fact  that  many  of  them  are  written  in  the  German 
script  or  old  English  letter,  and  unless  the  student  is  familiar  with  that  lan- 
guage or  character,  his  only  mode  of  reading  such  passages  is  by  making  an 
alphabet,  somevvhat  in  the  way  pursued  by  Champollion  in  his  application  of 
the  Rosetta  Stone  to  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  The  chances  of  error  are  much 
increased  by  this  process. 

Lest  these  remarks  should  be  misapprehended  as  throwing  a  doubt  on  tlie 
reliability  of  tbe  printed  records,  the  writer  deems  it  just  and  proper  to  say 
that  the  errors  therein  contained  are  few  and  of  little  practical  importance, 
so  far  as  he  has  discovered.  Some  errors  have  occurred  in  printing  that  are 
readily  detected.  The  completeness  and  accuracy  of  the '  work  as  a  whole, 
can  only  be  duly  appreciated  by  those  who  know  the  many  difficulties  incident 
to  such  a  task.  Mutilation,  erasure,  fading  ink,  blotting,  insects,  dampness, 
ever-varying  orthography,  and  often  bad.  chirography,  to  all  which  add  the 
frequent  use  of  a  foreign  character,  as  above  stated,  and  we  have  some  of  the 
inevitable  hindrances  that  attend  the  reading  of  our  earliest  records. 

M.  295,  May  11th,  1639.  "At  Aquiday  tbe  people  grew  very  tumul- 
tuous, and  put  out  Mr.  Coddington  and  the  other  three  magistrates,  and  chose 


TWO    GOVERNMENTS    ON    THE    ISLAND.  135 

*'  for  the  help  and  ease  of  conducting  public  business  and  chap. 
affairs,   and   to  lay  out  lands/'   viz.  :   William   Balston,    ^  J^ 

John  Porter,   John  ,   William   Freeborne,    John  163  9 

Wall,  Philip  Shearman  and  William  Aspinwall.  The 
surname  of  the  third  assistant,  like  that  of  the  Judge, 
being  near  the  edge  of  the  page,  is  torn  off.  These  offi- 
cers were  constituted  a  court  for  settling  any  dispute  in- 
volving less  than  forty  shillings.  Provision  was  also  made 
for  a  quarterly  court  of  trials  with  a  jury  of  twelve  men. 
Two  distinct  governments,  which  lasted  the  remainder 
of  the  year,  were  thus  established  on  the  island.  That 
at  Pocasset  was  occupied  with  business  of  a  local  nature, 
chiefly  in  apportionments  of  land  and  house  lots,  which 
were  to  be  forfeited  if  not  built  upon  within  one  year.  No 
man  was  allowed  either  to  sell  his  lot  or  to  offer  it  to  the 

Mr.  Wm.  Hutchinson  only,  a  man  of  very  mild  temper  and  weak  parts,  and 
■ft holly  guifled  by  his  wife,  who  had  been  the  beginner  of  all  the  former  trou- 
bles in  the  country,  and  still  continued  to  breed  disturbance."  The  "  putting 
out "  here  recorded,  is  evidently  a  Puritan  version  of  the  emigration  from 
Pocasset  to  Newport  a  few  days  previous,  which  shows  how  carefully  we  should 
regard  the  statements  of  the  Massachusetts  chroniclers,  when  the  most  liberal 
of  them  all  can  thus  construe  the  acts  of  those  from  whom  he  differed  in 
opinion.  He  is  in  error  in  using  the  word  "  only "  in  the  passage  above 
quoted ;  the  records  of  Portsmouth  showing,  as  stated  in  the  text,  that  seven 
Assistants  were  chosen  at  the  same  time  with  the  Judge.  There  are  also  two 
singular  errors,  one  of  omission  and  one  of  misstatement,  in  Judge  Eddy's  let- 
ter to  the  Editor,  quoted  in  the  note  appended  to  this  passage. 

The  first  consists  in  overlooking  the  fact  of  the  emigration  of  the  Mao-is- 
trates,  and  the  election  of  others  by  those  who  remained  at  Pocasset,  of  which 
Judge  Eddy  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware,  and  which  led  him  to  assert 
wrongly  of  Wm.  Hutchinson's  election  as  an  Assistant  in  1640,  that  "  this 
was  the  only  time  he  was  chosen  to  office."  The  diligence  of  Judge  Eddy  and 
his  general  accuracy  is  admitted  by  all  who  have  pursued  the  same  path  of 
research  in  our  State  Archives.  The  two  errors  here  noticed  could  not  have 
been  avoided  by  one  who  only  examined,  however  carefully,  the  State  records, 
and  it  is  evident  from  this  letter  that  its  writer  had  not,  up  to  that  time,  con- 
sulted the  Portsmouth  town  records. 

It  is  fortunate  that  Winthrop  has  thus  accidentally  enabled  us  to  supply  a 
defect  caused  by  a  mutilation  of  the  records.  Without  this  confirmation  we 
should  still  have  conjectured  that  Hutchinson  was  the  man  selected  as  Judge, 
foi  ue  was  one  of  the  eighteen  original  proprietors,  and  was  perhaps  the  naost 
'.mport  ant  person  left  at  Pocasset  after  the  emigration. 


136  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  town.     The  only  act  of  public  interest  was  to  change  the 
,^..^;;^  name  of  the  place  to  Portsmouth,  which  was  done  at  the 
1  0  3  9.  first  quarterly  meeting  under  the  new  organization,  and 
1*      confirmed  by  the  united  government  the  next  year. 

The  nine  men  who  signed  the  agreement  at  Pocasset 
April  proceeded  at  once  to  make  their  new  settlement.  By  a 
manuscript  journal  kept  by  Nicholas  Easton,  it  appears 
30.  that  he  with  his  two  sons,  Peter  and  John,  came  by  boat 
to  an  island  where  they  lodged,  and  the  next  morning 
J^-  named  it  Coasters'  Harbor.  Thence  they  came  to  'New- 
port the  same  day,  where  they  erected  the  first  English 
building. '  The  others  were  not  far  behind,  if  they  did 
not  accompany  the  Eastons,  for  in  their  first  .meeting  they 
16-  speak  of  "  the  plantation  now  begun  at  this  south-west 
end  of  the  island,"  naming  it  Newport,  establishing  the 
site  of  the  town  "  on  both  sides  of  the  spring,  and  by  the 
seaside  southward,"  and  fixing  the  line  dividing  it  from 
Pocasset  at  a  point  five  miles  north  and  east  from  the 
town.  The  spring  referred  to  was  on  the  west  side  of 
Si)ring  street,  near  the  State  House,  whence  a  stream  ran 
a  north-west  course  to  the  harbor.  It  appears  that  some 
doubt  existed  at  first  as  to  the  best  location  for  the  town. 
A  dense  swamp  skirted  the  harbor  where  Thames  street 
now  is.  This  fact  led  them  to  direct  their  attention  to 
the  beach.  There  they  found  only  an  open  roadstead  un- 
safe for  shipping  ;  so  they  returned  to  the  harbor,  sur- 
veyed it,  and  wisely  decided  on  the  present  location.    The 

'  This  fact  entitles  N.  Easton  to  the  honor  of  being  considered  the  founder 
of  Newport,  unless  an  equal  share  is  claimed  for  his  eight  associates,  who  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  as  prompt  in  their  arrival  or  in  establishing  their 
settlement  by  actual  building.  That  he  was  endowed  with  the  peculiar  en- 
ergy of  a  pioneer  appears  by  his  previous  history.  The  house  was  on  the  east 
side  of  Farewell  street,  a  little  west  of  the  Friends'  meeting-house.  It  was 
burnt  down  in  1641  by  the  carelessness  or  the  malice  of  some  Indians,  who 
kindled  a  fire  in  the  woods  near  by.  There  and  in  Tanner  and  Marlborough 
streets  the  first  houses  w^ere  built.  Gov.  Coddington's  house  was  on  the  north 
side  of  the  latter  street  and  fronting  Duke  street. — Bull's  Memoir  of  Rhode 
Jaland. 


SETTLEMENT    OF    NEWPORT.  137 

swamp  has  long  since  given  place  to  crowded  thorougli-  chap 
fares,  and  the  finest  harbor  in  America  remains  to  attest   ^^J^ 
the  wisdom  of  their  choice.     Provision  was  made  for  every  1  <>  3  'j, 
servant  who  remained  with  them  to  have  ten  acres  of  land 
as  a  free  gift  upon  his  admission.     The  business  of  laying 
out  the  lands  was  soon  commenced.     The  oj^inion  of  the      5. 
body  is  recorded  "  that  the  land  might  reasonably  accom- 
modate fifty  families."     Four  acres  were  assigned  for  each 
house  lot,  and  six  acres  were  granted  to  Mr.  Coddington 
for  an  orchard.'     Free   trade  with  the  Indians  was  per- 
mitted to  all  men.     Some  dift'erences  on  this  subject  had 
arisen  which   probably  occasioned  this  decree.     The  ap-    g^p^ 
pointment  of  "  truckmasters  "  had  not  given  satisfaction       2. 
at  Pocasset,  and  the   Newport  settlers   profited   by  their 
experience.      A  justice's  court,   composed  of  the  Judge     Oct. 
and  Elders,  was  appointed  to   meet   the  first   Tuesday      ^• 
in    every  month,  to  decide  •  such   causes    as  might  come 
before  them.     At  the  quarterly  town  meetings,  called  also 
courts,  a  majority  was  to  rule,  and  the  Judge  was  allowed 
two  votes.     Under  this  date  appears  a  list  of  fifty-nine 
persons,  "who  by  the  general  consent  of  the  company  were 
admitted    to   be   inhabitants    of  the   island,   now    called 
Aquedneck,  having  submitted  themselves  to  the  govern- 
ment that  is  or  shall  be  established,  according  to  the  word 
of  God,  therein,"  and  also  a  supplemental  list  of  forty-two 
"  inhabitants  admitted  at  the   towne  of  Niew-Port  since 
the  20th  of  the  3d,  1638,"  (1639,)  making  one  hundred 
and  one  registered  inhabitants  at  that  time.^     Nearly  one 
half  of  the  first  list  is  composed  of  names  signed  to  the 

'  This  is  the  second  orchard  known  in  Rhode  Island.  The  first  was  planted 
by  "W.  Blackstone  in  1635. 

-  There  is  a  singular  recurrence  of  this  precise  number  of  persons  in  our 
early  history.  The  I'ilgrims  landing  from  the  Mayflower  in  1G20  were  one 
Imndred  and  one.  The  number  of  men  in  Providence  fit  for  military  duty  in 
1 645  was  one  hundred  and  one.  The  number  of  proprietors  there  at  the  last 
division  of  lands  in  1718,  was  one  hundred  and  one,  and  we  here  see  the 
number  of  registered  inhabitants  of  Aquedueck  in  Oct.,  1639,  to  be  one  hun- 
dred and  one. 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Pocasset  agreement  of  April  30tb,  and  the  greater  part 
___;^  of  it  is  made  up  of  those  who  still  resided  there,  by  which 
I  0  3  9.  we  may  foresee  the  union  of  the  governments  shortly  to 
take  place.  None  of  the  proprietors'  names  are  in  either 
list.  They  were  the  company  by  whom,  with  such  as 
they  from  time  to  time  admitted,  all  others  were  received. 
The  supplemental  list  contains  only  the  names  of  such  sls 
had  come  to  the  island  during  the  summer. 

We  have  before  seen  that  the  organization  of  courts^ 
very  early  occupied  the  attention  of  the  colonists.  *  The 
administration  of  justice  was  promptly  providfed  for,  con- 
trary to  the  slanders  of  their  neighbors,  who  from  the  ab- 
sence of  any  law  religion  at  either  Providence  or  Aqued- 
neck,  freely  charged  them  with  a  disregard  for  both  law 
and  religion.  A  division  of  labor  in  judicial  matters,  it 
is  true,  was  not  immediately  provided.  Their  circum- 
stances did  not  at  once  permit  the  establishment  of  a  va- 
riety of  courts,  with  limited  and  well-defined  jurisdic- 
tions, as  at  the  present  day.  The  number  of  the  colo- 
nists was  too  small,  and  the  nature  of  the  causes  arising 
among  them  did  not  require  any  extended  judicial  sys- 
tem. Yet  we  have  seen  that  something  of  this  had  al- 
ready been  undertaken  at  Pocasset.  The  Court  of  As- 
sistants was  to  have  cognizance  of  small  causes,  and  a 
quarterly  court  for  jury  trials  was  established.  This 
progress  in  one  year,  with  the  establishment  of  justices' 
courts  immediately  upon  their  settlement,  fully  attests 
their  regard  for  law.  The  character  of  the  men,  with  the 
fact  that  a  majority  of  them  were  members  of  the  Boston 
churcli  before  their  exile,  and  many  still  continued  to  be 
Nov.  so,  answers  the  other  portion  of  the  charge.  A  formal 
act  of  the  whole  people,  passed  at  this  time,  will  set  their 
regard  for  justice,  and  their  care  in  providing  for  its  ad- 
ministration, in  still  clearer  liffht.  "  Bv  the  Bodv  Poli- 
ticke  in  the  He  of  Aquethnec,  Inhabiting  this  present  25 
of  9  month,  1639. 


25. 


THE    FIRST    CHUFCH    AT    AQUEDNECK.  139 

"  In  the  fourteenth  yeare  of  y'  Raign  of  our  Soveraign  chap. 
Lord  King   Charles.     It  is  agreed,  That  as  Natural  sub-  ._J^ 
jects  to  our  Prince,  and  subject  to  his  Lawes,  all  matters  163  9. 
that  conoerne  the  Peace  shall  be  by  those  that  are  officers 
of  the  Peace,  Transacted  ;  And  all  actions  of  the  case, 
or  Debt,  shall  be  in  such  Courts  as  by  order  are  here  ap- 
pointed, and  by  such  Judges  as  are  Deputed  :  Heard  and 
Legally  Determined. 

"  Given  at   Niew-Port   on  the  Quarter  Courte  Day 
which  was  adjourned  till  y'  Day. 

"  William  Dyre,  Sec." 

Meanwhile  their  spiritual  concerns  were  not  neglect- 
ed. We  have  the  same  reasons  that  were  assigned  in  the 
previous  chapter  for  supposing  that  at  Aquedneck,  as 
well  as  at  Providence,  religious  services  were  regularly 
conducted  before  any  positive  notice  is  found  of  the  forma- 
tion of  a  church.  In  Winthrop's  Journal  we  read, 
*'  They  also  gathered  a  church  in  a  very  disordered  way  ;  ^^^ 
for  they  took  some  excommunicated  persons,  and  others 
who  were  members  of  the  church  of  Boston  and  not  dis- 
missed." The  position  of  this  record  in  reference  to  what 
precedes  it,'  seems  to  indicate  that  the  church  was  formed 
at  or  about  the  time  of  the  Newport  settlement,  but 
whether  there  or  at  Pocasset,  by  the  emigrants  or  by  those 
who  remained,  is  not  so  apparent.  The  construction  of 
the  sentence  makes  it  probable  that  the  latter  is  intended. 
No  other  contemporary  record  of  the  formation  of  such  a 
church  remains.^     Whatever  were  its  doctrines  it  existed 

'  Winthrop,  i.  207,  under  date  of  May  11th,  1639,  and  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  statement  of  the  ejection  of  the  magistrates  quoted  iu  note  1,  p. 
134. 

'  It  is  this  church,  if  any  in  Rhode  Island,  that  can  he  claimed  to  ante- 
date the  Baptist  church  already  formed  in  Providence.  Yet  the  record  of 
Winthrop  mentions  the  formation  of  that  church  nearly  two  months  earlier 
than  th'-.  one  at  Aquedneck.  The  former  is  distinctly  described  as  Baptist  in 
its  ordinances.  Of  the  latter  the  only  clue  given  to  its  doctrines  is  that  some 
»f  its  members  were  still  members  of  the  Boston  church,  which  fact,  if  it 


140  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  but  a  short  time  in  its  original  form,  if  we  may  rely  od 
,__^;.^  the  authority  of  Lechford,  but  gave  place  in  a  few  years 
16  3  y.  to  a  flourishing  Baptist  church,  under  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Rev.  John  Clarke,  who  had  been  Elder  of  the  former 
church.'  The  same  authority  states  that  at  Portsmouth 
there  was  then  no  church,  "  but  a  meeting  of  some  men 
who  there  teach  one  another  and  call  it  Prophecie."=^ 
That  a  due  regard  was  felt  for  religious  matters  at  both 
the  Aquedneck  towns,  as  well  as  at  Providence,  we  think 
has  now  been  sufficiently  shown  on  firmer  grounds*  than 
simple  inference.  That  "  at  Aquiday  they  gathered  a 
church  in  a  very  disordered  way,"  which  they  could  not 

proves  nothing  else,  shows  pretty  conclnsively  that  they  were  not  Baptists. 
If  some  writers  whose  ability  entitles  their  judgment  to  respect  had  not,  of 
late  years,  expressed  a  doubt  upon  the  point,  the  Author  would  feel  little  hes- 
itation in  expressing  what  is  in  his  owa  mind  a  firm  conviction,  tliat  the 
church  at  Aquedneck  was  formed  some  little  time  prior  to  May  11th,  1639, 
and  was  in  its  faith  and  ordinances  an  Independent  Congregational  Church,  of 
the  Puritan  pedobaptist  order.  Mr.  Savage,  in  a  note  to  the  passage  quoted 
in  the  text,  has  a  just  comment  on  the  way  the  church  is  there  described  as 
being  gathered.     See  note  (2)  p.  107,  ante. 

'  Plaine  Dealing  or  News  from  N.  England,  London,  1641.  The  writer 
used  the  copy  in  the  British  Museum,  and  collated  the  parts  relating  to  Rhode 
Island,  with  the  re-publication  in  3  M.  H.  ,C.,  iii.  96,  7,  where  the  book  is 
dated  1642.  Perhaps  there  were  two  editions.  Lechford  says:  "At  the 
island  called  Aquedney  are  about  two  hundred  families.  There  was  a  church 
where  one  Master  Clarke  was  elder.  The  place  where  the  church  was  is 
called  Newport,  but  that  church  I  heare  is  now  dissolved."  He  is  quoted  as 
evidence  against  the  existence  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Providence  at  the 
time  he  wrote,  but  nothing  he  says  on  that  subject  is  so  direct  to  that  point 
as  the  passage  here  given,  bearing  upon  the  other  side  of  the  question,  and 
which  is  quite  overlooked  in  the  discussion  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  chap- 
ter, note  (2)  p.  107.  The  probability  is  that  Lecbford's  statement  is  correct, 
that  this  earliest  Aquedneck  church  was  dissolved,  and  that  in  the  change  of 
doctrinal  opinion  so  rife  in  that  age,  there  soon  after  arose  from  the  materials 
of  the  old  church,  and  including  its  pastor,  a  Baptist  church,  founded,  as  Cal- 
lender  believed  (R.  I.  H.  C.  iv.  117),  "in  1644,  by  Mr.  John  Clarke  and  some 
others." 

-  The  views  of  "Thomas  Lechford,  of 'Clements  lune,  in  the  county  of 
Middlesex,  Gent.,"  as  he  describes  himself  on  his  title-page,  the  High  Church- 
man, writing  confessedly  to  prove  his  right  to  be  so  considered,  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  differ  materially  from  those  of  our  antinomian  progenitors  of  Aqued- 
neck, upon  the  controverted  question,  "  What  constitutes  a  church  ?  " 


FIEST    MOVEMENT    FOR    A    CHARTER.  141 

avoid,  and  that  "  at  Providence  things  grew  still  worse/'  chap, 
in  Puritan  opinion,  and  a  Baptist  church  was  the  result,  .^^.^j;^ 
will  not  be  held,  at  this  day,  to  militate  against  the  piety  1 6  3  u. 
or  the  prudence  of  our  ancestors.  ,. 

The  military  organization  was  very  soon  completed,  25. 
as  at  Portsmouth.  It  was  kept  distinct  from  the  other 
branches  of  government,  but  subject,  in  the  choice  of  offi- 
cers, to  the  approval  of  the  Magistrates.  Every  man  ca- 
13able  of  bearing  arms  was  enrolled.  "  The  Body  of  the 
people,  viz.,  the  Traine  Band,"  were  left  free  to  choose 
their  own  officers  to  exercise  and  train  them,  who  were  to 
be  approved  by  the  Magistrates.  No  man  was  allowed 
to  go  two  miles  from  town,  or  to  attend  any  public  meet- 
ing, under  penalty  of  five  shillings  fine,  without  carrying 
a  gun  or  sword.  The  danger  of  Indian  hostility  occa- 
sioned this  great  precaution. 

Negotiations  with  Pocasset  were  already  in  progress 
with  a  view  to  a  united  government.  A  yet  more  im- 
portant project  was  discussed.  Mr.  Easton  and  Mr.  John 
Clarke  were  desired  to  write  to  Sir  Henry  Vane  about  the 
condition  of  the  island,  in  order  to  obtain  his  influence  in 
securing  a  charter  from  the  King.  Mr.  Thomas  Burr- 
wood,  a  brother  of  Mr.  Easton,  was  also  to  be  written  to 
on  the  same  subject.  The  Court  adjourned  for  three 
weeks.  In  the  interval  two  men,  having  broken  the  peace  j^^^ 
by  drunkenness,  were  tried  by  the  Magistrate's,  or  "  par-  3. 
ticular  Court,"  and  fined  five  shillings  each,  "  according 
to  the  law  in  that  case  provided."  No  respect  of  persons 
was  shown  in  the  infant  commonwealth,  when  any  vio- 
lated law  required  a  vindication.  At  the  adjourned  meet-  ^^ 
ing  of  the  Quarter  Court  the  first  act  was  to  impose  a 
fine  of  five  shillings  upon  Mr.  Easton,  one  of  the  Elders, 
or  assistants,  for  attending  without  his  weapon.  The 
sanitary  precautions,  noticed  at  Pocasset,  were  taken  also 
at  Newport.  Hogs  were  prohibited  from  running  at  large 
between  the  middle  of  April  and  October.     A  repeal  of 


Jan. 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   the  former  order  on  this  subject,  which,  it  may  he  remem 
^^^^^  hered,  required  their  removal  to  a  distance  of  six  miles 
163  0.  from   the  town,  or  to  some   adjacent  island,  would  make 
j!^  ■    it  appear  that  the  orders  passed  the  previous  year  at  Po- 
casset  were  held  to  he  in  force  at  Newport,  a  view  that  is 
strengthened  by  the  fact  of  their  having  carried  with  them 
all  the  records,  as  before  stated.     A  pair  of  stocks  and  a 
whipping  post  were  now  ordered  for  the  town. 
1639-40.         The  earliest  export  trade  of  Rhode  Island  was  in  lum-» 
ber.     The  home  prices  were   regulated  by  la\y.     In  the 
earliest  enactment  on  this  subject  these  are  fixed  at  eight 
shillings  the  hundred  for  sawed  boards,  seven  shillings  for 
half  inch  boards,  delivered  at  the  mill,  and  one  shilling  a 
foot  for  clapboards  and  fencing,  to  be  sound,  merchanta- 
ble stuff.     Timber  was  not  to  be  cut  or  exported  without 
a  license.     By  a  record  at  Portsmouth,  now^  much  defaced, 
it  appears  that  a  ship  load  of  pipe  staves  and  clapboards 
was  obtained  there  about  this  time.     A  few  years  later ' 
ship  building  was  commenced,  and  has  ever  since  been  an 
important  branch  of  business  in  the  State. 

A  scarcity  of  provisions,  which,  but  for  the  ample  sup- 
ply of  fish  and  game  that  abounded  in  the  sea  and  the 
forests,  would  have  threatened  a  famine,  caused  a  survey 
and  census  to  be  taken.  This  showed  that  there  were 
2'^  ninety-six  persons  inhabiting  the  town,  and  only  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  bushels  of  corn  among  them.^  This  was 
equally  divided,  and  the  stock  was  calculated  to  last  for 

'  111  1G4G  the  New  Haven  colony  built  a  ship  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  at  Rhode  Island.     TruinbuU's  Conn.,  i.  161. 

"  The  apparent  discrepancy  between  this  census  of  ninety-six  persons  and 
the  registeied  list  of  one  hundred  and  one  males  in  October,  is  reconciled  by 
the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  the  first  list  of  fifty-nine  men  resided  at  Pocasset 
The  second  list  of  forty-two  were  new  coiners  on  the  island  and  lived  at  New- 
port The  apportionment  of  only  thirty-six  quarts  of  corn  to  each  person  to 
last  for  six  weeks,  being  less  than  one  quart  per  day,  and  that  too  in  mid- 
winter, with  six  months  yet  to  harvest  time,  shows  a  fearful  scarcity.  It  was 
evidently  contemplated  to  obtain  supplies  from  abroad  within  the  six  weeka, 
but  where  or  how  does  not  appear. 


UNION    OF    PORTSMOUTH    A.ND    NEWPORT.  143 

six  weeks.  The  next  quarterly  meeting  was  held  four  chap 
days  sooner  than  the  regular  time,  which  fell  on  Sunday. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  annual  election  of  all  the  of- 
ficers, to  be  held  on  the  twelfth  day  of  March,  forever  af- 
ter, in  a  General  Assembly  of  the  Freemen,  and  such  as 
could  not  be  present  were  "  to  send  in  their  votes,  sealed 
up,  to  the  Judge."  At  the  expiration  of  the  six  weeks 
from  the  time  the  corn  was  divided,  all  the  sea  banks  were  Marcu 
declared  free  for  fishing,  but  whether  in  consequence  of  the 
scarcity  of  provisions,  or  as  a  simple  matter  of  public 
right,  is  not  stated — probably  the  latter. 

At  the  first  General  Court  of  Election  ever  held  in 
Newport,  very  important  proceedings  were  had.  William 
Hutchinson,  Judge,  and  several  of  the  principal  men  of 
Portsmouth,  who  had  not  before  applied,  were  reunited 
to  the  Body,  and  some  who  had  been  registered  as  inhab- 
itants in  October  were  now  admitted  as  freemen,  and  a 
general  act  for  the  admission  of  freemen  was  passed  by 
the  united  Bodies  of  both  towns,  hereafter  to  constitute 
but  one  government.  The  style  and  number  of  the  mag- 
istrates were  changed.  The  titles  of  Judge  and  Elder 
were  abolished.  The  Chief  was  called  Governor,  the  next 
in  office  Deputy  Governor,  and  the  other  four  Magistrates, 
Assistants.  An  equal  number  of  the  general  officers  were 
to  be  chosen  from  each  town,  the  Governor  and  two  As- 
sistants from  one,  and  the  Deputy  Governor  and  two  As- 
sistants from  the  other.  The  change  of  the  name  of  Po- 
casset  to  Portsmouth,  which  had  been  there  made  the  pre- 
vious July,  was  now  confirmed.  The  election  resulted  in 
the  choice  of  William  Coddington,  Governor,  William 
Brenton,  Deputy  Governor,  Nicholas  Easton,  John  Cogges- 
hall,  William  Hutchinson  and  John  Porter,  Assistants. 
The  two  latter  and  Mr.  Brenton  lived  at  Portsmouth. 
Robert  Jeffreys,  of  Newport,  and  William  Balston,  of 
Portsmouth,  were  chosen  Treasurers.  William  Dyre, 
Secretary,  Jeremy  Clark  Constable  for  Newport,  and  John 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP.    Sandford  for  Portsmouth,  and  Henry  Bull,  Sergeant,  all  fci 

,J^^  one  year,  or  till  others   should  be  chosen.     The  Governor 

1640,  and  Assistants  were  made  Justices  of  the  Peace,     Five 

j2      men  were  selected  for  Portsmouth  and  three  for  Newport 

to  lay  out  lands,  and  j)ro vision  was  made  to  record  land 

titles  in  conformity  thereto. 

This  union  of  the  towns  was  a  most  desirable  event. 
Already  the  evils  of  a  divided  jurisdiction  had  become 
apparent,  while  the  rights  of  the.  proprietors,  in^whom 
rested  the  fee  of  the  whole  island,  would,  have  oc- 
casioned disputes  which  were  thus  happily  prevented. 
The  idea  of  a  free  charter  also,  which  was  seriously  en- 
tertained by  the  people,  doubtless  contributed  largely  to 
effect  a  union.  The  movement  was  particularly  benefi- 
cial to  Newport,  which  at  that  time  was  much  the  smaller 
of  the  two.  It  soon  became  virtually  the  capital,  al- 
though the  Quarter  Courts,  or  meetings  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  the  General  Courts  of  Election  were  held 
in  both  towns  at  various  times.  The  "  particular  Courts," 
consisting  of  magistrates  and  jurors,  vv^ere  ordered  to  be 
.,        held  monthly  in  each  town.     These  Courts  had  jurisdic- 

6.  tion  in  all  causes  not  involving  "  life  and  limb."  From 
their  decision  there  was  a  right  of  apj)eal  to  the  Quarter 
Sessions,  which  were  held  the  first  Tuesdays  in  March, 
June,  September  and  December.  The  laws  were  revised 
and  several  of  them  repealed,  among  which  was  the  one 
forfeiting  house  lots  that  were  not  built  upon  within  one 
year  from  the  grant, 

j^j  A  formal  convention  or  treaty  was  made  by  the  gov- 

7.  ernment  with  the  Narragansct  Indians,  and' duly  ratified 
at   the   next   General   Court.      It   provides   that   no  fire 

6.  should  be  kindled  by  the  Indians  on  the  island,  but  such 
as  should  be  extinguished  on  their  departure,  and  if  any 
damage  result  therefrom  it  shall  be  made  good  on  legal 
trial  ;  that  for  a  hog  that  had  been  killed  by  an  Indian, 
ten  fathoms  of  wampum  should  be  paid  at  the  next  har- 


MILITIA   LAW — PROVISION   FOR   SCHOOLS.  145 

vest  ;  tliat  no  traps  for  deer  or  cattle  should  be  set  by  In-  chap 
dians  on  the  island  ;  that  if  any  Indian  was  unruly,  or  ,^^1^ 
committed  any  small  crime,  he  should  be  punished  by  a  16  40, 
magistrate,  according  to  law  ;  but  if  the  charge  involved      q^' 
a  greater  sum  than  ten  fathoms  of  beads,  or  if  the  accused 
party  was  a  sachem,  however  trivial  the  charge,  then  Mi- 
antinomi  was  to  be  sent  for  to  be  present   at  the  trial ; 
that  neither  English  nor  Indians  should  take  the  canoes 
belono-ino;  to  the  other  ;  that  no  barg-ain  once  made  should 
be  revoked,  and  that  no  idling  about  should  be  allowed. 

A  militia  law,  by  far  more ,  complete  than  any  law 
upon  that  subject  that  had  before  been  passed,  and  the 
most  coj)ious  of  any  of  the  existing  acts,  now  appointed 
that  eight  times  a  year  the  bands  of  both  towns  were  to  be 
exercised  in  the  field,  and  that  two  general  musters,  one 
at  each  town,  were  to  be  held  every  year.  The  umisual 
minuteness  of  this  statute,  the  penalties  attached  to  its 
violation,  and  the  stringency  of  its  application,  including 
as  it  did  every  man  who  should  remain  for  twenty  days 
on  the  island,  and  exempting  no  one  except  by  commuta- 
tion, evinces  the  feeling  of  insecurity  at  that  time  per- 
vading the  whole  of  New  England. 

It  has  been  said  that  at  one  time  Rhode  Island  was 
behind  all  other  States  in  providing  for  the  education  of 
her  people.  However  true  this  might  be  of  other  portions 
of  the  State  it  was  not  so  of  the  island.     At  this  Court,  , 

Mr.  Robert  Lenthal  was  admitted  a  freeman.  He  had 
been  invited  to  come  and  conduct  pubHc  worship,  which 
had  previously  been  done  by  Mr.  Clark,  and  to  teach  a 
school.  By  a  vote  of  the  town  of  Newport  he  was 
"  called  to  keep  a  public  school  for  the  learning  of  youth, 
and  for  his  encouragement  there  was  granted  to  him  and 
his  heirs  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  four  more  for  a 
house  lot ; "  it  was  also  voted  ''  that  one  hundred  acres 
should  be  laid  forth  and  appropriated  for  a  school,  for  en- 
couragement of  the  poorer  sort,  to  train  up  their  youth 

VOL.  I — 10 


14. 


146  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

in  learning,  and  Mr.  Robert  Lentlial,  while  he  continues 
to  teach  school,  is  to  have  the  benefit  thereof." 
16  40.  The  two  towns  were  placed  on  an  equal  footing  in  all 

resj)ects.  They  were  allowed  to  draw  similar  amounts 
from  the  public  treasury.  '•  Two  Parliamentary  (or  Gen- 
eral) Courts"  were  appointed  to  be  held  equally  at  Ports- 
mouth and  Newport,  on  the  Wednesday  after  the  'twelfth 
of  March  and  of  October/ 

The  local  aflfairs  of  each  town  being  left  to  its  own 
management,  we  find  occasionally  some  matters  initiated 
there  which  afterwards  became  of  public  interest.  Such 
Sept.  is  the  establishment  of  a  ferry  by  the  town  of  Portsmouth, 
probably  at  or  near  the  spot  long  afterw^ards  known  as 
Rowland's  ferry,  where  '"'  the  stone  bridge  "  now  is,  being 
the  narrowest  part  of  the  east  passage,  and  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  original  settlement  of  Pocasset,  Thos. 
Gorton  was  appointed  ferryman.  The  fares  were  fixed  at 
sixpence  a  man,  or  threepence  each  if  more  than  three 
were  taken  at  one  trip,  and  fourpence  a  head  for  goats  and 
swine, 

Tlie  Secretary  was  required  to  attend  the  two  General 
and  the  four  Quarter  Sessions  courts,  receiving  threepence 
a  day  for  so  doing.  The  Governor  was  instructed  to  write 
to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  to  lenrn  the  plans  of 
that  colony  with  regard  to  the  Indians.  Winthrop  has 
fortunately  given  the  substance  of  that  letter,  which  was 
a  joint  communication  from  the  Governors  of  Hartford, 
New  Haven  and  Aqucdncck,  "  wherein  they  declared 
their  dislike  of  such  as  would  have  the  Indians  rooted  out, 
as  being  of  the  cursed  race  of  Ham,  and  their  desire  of 
our  mutual  accord  in  seeking  to  gain'them  by  justice  and 
kindness,  and  withal  to  watch  over  them  to  prevent  any 

'  The  record  so  reads,  but  in  fact  the  fall  session  was  held  in  September, 

*  six  months  after  the  spring  session.     The  fact  and  the   time  both  concur  ia 

rendering  it  probable  that  September  was  intended,  and  that  October  wai 

written  by  mistake  of  the  Secretary,  > 


OFFICIAL    VINDICTIVENESS.  147 

danger  by  them,  etc.     We  returned  answer  of  our  consent  chap. 

with  them  in  all  things  propounded,  only  we  refused  to   , .J^ 

include  those  of  Aquiday  in  our  answer,  or  to  have  any  ^^.^/'' 
treaty  with  them."  The  action  of  the  General  Court  of  7. 
Massachusetts  on  this  subject  is  instructive.  It  gives  an 
official  stamp  to  that  vindictive  spirit  which  was  soon  to 
display  itself  yet  more  signally  in  their  treatment  of 
Rhode  Island.  ''  It  is  ordered  that  the  letter  lately  sent 
to  the  Governor  by  Mr.  Eaton,  Mr.  Hoj)kins,  Mr.  Haynes, 
Mr.  Coddington  and  Mr.  Brenton,  but  concerning  also  the 
Generall  Courte  shal  bee  thus  answered  by  the  Governor ; 
that  the  Courte  doth  assent  to  all  the  propositions  layde 
down  in  the  aforesaid  letter  ;  but  that  the  answer  shall 
be  directed  to  Mr.  Eaton,  Mr.  Hopkins,  and  Mr.  Haynes, 
only  excluding  Mr.  Coddington  and  Mr.  Brenton,  as  men 
not  to  be  capitulated  v/ithal  by  us,  either  for  themselves 
or  the  people  of  the  island  where  they  inhabit,  as  their 
case  standeth."  ' 

The  second  General  Court  of  Election  was  held  at 

*  M.  C.  R.,  i.  305.  Upon  this  record  of  the  Puritan  Legislature  Mr.  Sav- 
age comments  with  unsparing  severity  in  a  note  to  the  above  quoted  passage 
in  Winthrop.  He  says  :  "  This  is  the  most  exalted  triumph  of  bigotry.  Pa- 
pists, Jews,  Musselmen,  Idolators,  or  Atheists,  may  be  good  parties  to  a  civil 
compact,  but  not  erroneous  Protestant  brethren,  of  unimpeachable  piety,  dif- 
ferino-  from  us  in  explication  of  unessential,  or  unintelligible,  points  of  doubt- 
ful disputation.  It  was  not  enough  that  the  common  charities  of  life  were 
broken  off,  but  our  rulers  proved  the  sincerity  of  their  folly  by  refusing  con- 
nection in  a  just  and  necessary  course  of  policy,  which  demanded  the  concur- 
rence of  all  the  plantations  on  our  coast.  This  conduct  also  appears  little 
more  civil  than  prudent ;  for  when  those  of  Aquiday  were  associated  by  the 
gentlemen  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  in  their  address,  the  answer  should 
■  have  been  directed  to  all  without  scruple."  The  Governor  of  Massachusetts 
at  this  time  was  the  bigoted  Dudley,  the  man  upon  whose  person  there  was 
found,  when  on  his  death-bed,  this  original  couplet,  which  embodies  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment  of  the  age  : — 

"  Let  men  of  God  in  court  and  churches  watch 
O'er  such  as  do  a  toleration  hatch." 

a  verse  no  doubt  considered  equally  creditable  to  the  piety  and  the  poetic 
genius  of  the  author.  We  think  it  was.  That  such  a  Governor  should  adopt 
Euch  a  course  might  be  expected. 


J  48  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Portsmouth  and  lasted  three  days.     The  court  roll  of 

'      freemen   contains  sixty  names.     An  engao-ement   to   be 

1641.  taken  by  all  officers  of  the  State  was  framed  as  follows  : 
It)-18.  "  1'^  ^^6  execution  of  this  office,  I  judge  myself  bound 
before  God  to  walk  faithfully,  and  this  I  profess  in  the 
presence  of  God."  The  only  change  in  general  officers 
was  in  substituting  Kobert  Harding  and  WiUiam  Balstou 
as  assistants,  in  place  of  Nicholas  Easton  and  William 
Hutchinson.  The  nature  of  tlie  government  was  defined 
in  these  remarkable  words  :  "It  is  ordered  aiid'- unani- 
mously agreed  upon,  that  the  Government  which  this 
Bodie  Politick  doth  attend  unto  in  this  Island,  and  the 
Jurisdiction  thereof,  in  favor  of  our  Prince  is  a  democ- 
RACIE,  or  Popular  Government ;  that  is  to  say.  It  is  in 
the  Powre  of  the  Body  of  Freemen,  orderly  assembled, 
or  the  major  part  of  them,  to  make  or  constitute  Just 
Lawes,  by  which  they  will  be  regulated,  and  to  depute 
from  among  themselves  such  Ministers  as  shall  see  them 
faithfully  executed  between  Man  and  Man."  Not  le^s 
remarkable  is  the  act  establishing  forever  the  tenure  of 
lands.  "It  is  ordered.  Established  and  Decreed,  unani- 
mouslie,  that  aU  men's  Proprieties  in  their  Lands  of  the 
Island,  and  the  Jurisdiction  thereof,  shaU  be  such,  and 
soe  free,  that  neyther  the  State  nor  any  Person  or  Persons 
shall  intrude  into  it,  molest  him  in  itt,  to  deprive  him  of 
anything  whatsoever  that  is,  or  shall  be  within  that,  or 
any  of  the  bounds  thereof ;  and  that  this  Tenure  and  Pro- 
priety of  his  therein  shall  be  continued  to  him,  or  his,  oi 
to  whomsoever  he  shall  assign  it  for  Ever."  And  thus  it 
continued  to  be  for  more  than  two  centuries.  The  feel- 
ing of  inviolability  which  invested  real  estate  in  Khode 
Island  has  ever  formed  a  stiiking  characteristic  of  the 
people.  For  more  than  two  hundred  years  the  ownership 
of  land  was  essential  to  the  privileges  of  a  freeman,  and, 
by  the  law  of  primogeniture,  entitled  the  oldest  son  to 
the  same  immunities,  in  right  of  his  father,  until  altered 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERT'S    ESTABLISHED.  149 

by  the  adoption  of  the  State  constitution  in  1843.     And   chap, 

yet  more   singular  was  it  that   until  the  revision  of  the  ^j^ 

code  in  January,  1857,  nowhere  in  Kliode  Island  could  1641 
real  estate  be  attached  for  debt  except  in  the  absence  of   \q.is. 
the  debtor.     So  long  as  he  remained  anyw^here  Avithin  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  State,  his  land  w^as  secured  to  him  by 
the  operation  of  this  earhest  law  and  its  subsequent  mod- 
ifications. 

A  "  State  "  seal  was  ordered,  to  be  a  sheaf  of  arrows 
bound  up,  with  the  motto  "  Amor  vincet  omnia,"  en- 
graved upon  the  leash.  The  word  "  State  "  appears  for 
the  first  time  in  "this  decree.  The  possession  of  a  seal  has 
always  been  held  as  one  of  the  insignia  of  sovereignty,  or 
of  exclusive  rights.  Its  adoption  by  a  yet  unchartered 
government  was  significant.  The  motto  was  no  less  so. 
From  the  absence  of  the  all-conquering  afi'ection,  as  dis- 
played in  the  conduct  of  their  brethren,  they  had  suffered 
too  much  not  to  feel  its  value.  They  thus  emblazoned 
their  opinions  to  the  world,  and  at  the  same  time  passed 
an  ever-memorable  law  which  illustrates  their  motto  :  "It 
was  further  ordered,  by  the  authority  of  this  present 
Courte,  that  none  be  accounted  a  Delinquent  for  Doc- 
trine :  Provided,  it  be  not  directly  repugnant  to  y'  Gov- 
ernment or  Lawes  established."  Religious  liberty  was 
here  set  forth  in  terms  not  to  be  mistaken,  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  no  laws  existed  relating  to  matters  of 
faith  "  The  people  having  recently  transferred  the  ju- 
dicial power  from  their  own  control  to  the  Court  and  Ju- 
ries, they  enacted  this  law  protecting  liberty  of  con- 
science, not  choosing  to  trust  the  Judiciary  with  the  keep- 
ing of  that  sacred  principle  for  which  they  had  trans- 
ported themselves,  first  from  England  and  then  from  Mas- 
sachusetts. It  was  the  foundation  of  the  future  Statutes 
and  Bills  of  Rights,  which  distinguished  the  early  laws 
and  character  of  the  State  and  people  of  Rhode  Island 
from  the  other  English  Colonies  in  America."  *     At  no 

'  BnU's  Memoir  of  Rhode  Island. 


150  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    IIHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  period  of  the  world  has  reJigious  inquiry  been  more  rife 
^^^.^,1^  than  during  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  eminently 
16  41.  an  age  of  progress  in  spiritual  development,  and  as  a 
16-18.  natural  result,  or  cause,  as  different  minds  may  view  it, 
it  was  the  palmy  era  of  theological  controversy.  Else- 
where an  avowal  of  independent  thought  was  attended 
with  danger  to  the  liberty,  the  property,  or  the  life  of  the 
earnest  thinker.  Here  it  was  intended  to  remove  all  such 
obstacles  to  free  discussion,  and  to  leave  a  fair  field  for 
truth  to  work  out  its  deepest  problems.  That  in  this 
process  many  opinions,  which  in  our  day  may"  appear  fan- 
ciful, fanatical,  or  visionary,  and  which  may  be  regarded 
■as  idle  vagaries  or  spiritual  absurdities,  were  warmly  ex- 
pressed and  stoutly  maintained,  is  no  reproach  to  the 
principle  that  permitted  their  utterance.  In  an  inquiring 
age,  when  the  minds  of  men  were  agitated  by  new  and 
startling  theories  in  religion  and  government  ;  when  the 
progress  of  liberal  sentiments  was  awakening  to  fresh  life 
the  dormant  energies  of  the  old  world,  and  urging  its  op- 
pressed people  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  new  ;  when 
education  was  becoming  more  diifused,  and  philosophy 
was  no  longer  confined  to  the  schools,  or  the  elements 
of  polity  to  the  court  ;  when  men  had  begun  to  think 
for  themselves,  and  dared  to  question  kingly  preroga- 
tive and  priestly  assumption  ;  when  all  Europe  was  em- 
broiled in  wars  and  distracted  by  revolutionary  senti- 
ments, it  is  not  strange  that  crude,  grotesque,  and 
unstable  notions  should  blend  with  the  essential  truths 
which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  commotion.  Novel 
ideas  were  started,  new  sects  were  established,  secret 
societies  abounded,  and  those  phenomena  which  ever 
attend  a  transition  state,  and  which,  in  this  case,  were 
a  continuation  of  the  movement  of  the  preceding  cen- 
tury, were  everywhere  apparent.  The  law  of  Rhode 
Island  first  sanctioned  their  existence,  and  foreshadowed 
the  spirit  of  a  future   age.      That    "heresies"    should 


REPUTED  HERESIES  AT  AQUEDNECK.  151 

abound  in  such  a   community  was   inevitable,  and    our  chap. 
Puritan  neighbors  found  delight  in  recording  them  with  ^^^^ 
more  fulness  of  detail  than  accuracy  or  jiropriety  of  ex-  16  41. 
pression.     Again  we  are  indebted  to  Winthrop's  Journal  \q.i^ 
for  facts  of  which  no  record  is  to  be  found  in  our  own  col- 
lections ;  and  we  prefer  to  quote  him,  because  he  was  the 
most  liberal  man  of  his  age  and  station,  to  citing  the 
more  bitter  denunciations  of  Hubbard  and  Mather,  or  the 
many  other  writers  of  that  and  the  succeeding  century, 
whose  Dudleian  spirit  would  perhaps  more  truly  portray 
the  prevailing  temper  of  the  times.     Grovernor  Winthrop 
says  :   "  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  those  of  Aquiday  island,    Aug. 
broached  new  heresies  every  year.     Divers  of  them  turned 
professed  anabaptists,  and  would  not  wear  any  arms,  and 
denied  all  magistracy  among  Christians,  and  maintained 
that  there  were  no  churches  since  those  founded  by  the 
apostles  and  evangelists,  nor  could  any  be,  nor  any  pas- 
tors ordained,  nor  seals  administered  but  by  such,  and 
that  the  church  was  to  want  these  all  the  time  she  con- 
tinued in  the  wilderness,  as  yet  she  was  ;  "  *  and  again, 

*  ii.  38,  4:0.  The  terms  anabaptist  and  antinomian  were  used  generally  to 
designate  all  dissenters  from  the  established  faith,  and  vrere  not  applied,  as  is 
often  supposed,  specifically  to  the  Baptists  and  Independents  as  Christian  sects. 
In  the  above  enumeration  of  doctrines  ascribed  to  the  former,  there  is  not 
one  that  was,  or  ever  has  been  held  by  the  Baptists,  while  the  distinctive  fea- 
ture of  that  denomination  is  not  even  mentioned.  Most  of  the  doctrines 
named  were  held  by  the  Seekers,  who  were  afterwards  chiefly  merged  in  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  by  their  opponents  styled  Quaiiers,  until  that  name, 
like  that  of  Christian,  has  grown  from  an  epithet  of  contempt  to  be  an  hon- 
orable appellation.  Many,  if  not  all,  of  these  doctrines,  in  a  moditied  form, 
are  held  by  them  at  this  day.  The  term  applied  by  Winthrop  is  liable  to 
mislead.  That  similarity  of  name  implies  concurrence  of  sentiment,  is  an 
idea  as  common  as  it  is  superficial — a  truth  well  illustrated  in  the  vague  use 
here  made  of  the  word  '  anabaptist'  by  our  Puritan  journalist,  and  since  so 
often  repeated  by  his  Prelatical  brethren. 

The  slur  upon  Mr.  Easton  in  the  next  passage  needs  no  comment.  If  the 
reader  desires  one  he  will  find  it  in  a  note  to  Winthrop,  i.  281.  The  first 
three  gentlemen  there  named  were  all,  at  various  times,  Governors  of  the 
colony.  Some,  of  whom  was  Mr.  Coddington,  became  Quakers,  and  others 
Baptists  with  Mr.  Clarke  ;  which  is  no  doubt  the  "  schism  "  that  broke  up  tbe 
original  Aquedneck  church,  of  which  Mr.  Clarke  was  elder. 


152  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.   "  Other  troubles   arose  in   the  island  by  reason  of  one 

^j^  Nicholas  Easton,  a  tanner,  a  man  ver}^  bold,  though  iguo- 

1641.  rant.  He  using  to  teach  at  Newport,  where  Mr.  Cod- 
^'  dington  their  governor  lived,  maintained  that  man  hath 
no  power  or  will  in  himself,  but  as  he  is  acted  by  God, 
and  that  seeing  God  filled  all  things,  nothing  could  be  or 
move  but  by  him,  and  so  he  must  needs  be  the  author  of 
sin,  etc.,  and  that  a  Christian  is  united  to  the  essence  of 
God.  Being  showed  what  blasphemous  consequences 
would  follow  hereupon,  they  professed  to  abhor  the  conse- 
quences, but  still  defended  the  propositions, 'whicb  dis- 
covered their  ignorance,  not  apprehending  how  God  could 
make  a  creature  as  it  were  in  himself,  and  yet  no  part  of 
his  essence,  so  we  see  by  familiar  instances  ;  the  light  is 
in  the  air  and  in  every  part  of  it,  yet  it  is  not  air,  but  a 
distinct  thing  from  it.  There  joined  with  Nicholas  Eas- 
ton,  Mr.  Coddington,  Mr.  Coggeshall,  and  some  others, 
but  their  minister  Mr.  Clark,  and  Mr.  Lenthall,  and  Mr. 
Harding,  and  some  others  dissented  and  publicly  opposed, 
whereby  it  grew  to  such  heat  of  contention,  that  it  made 
a  schism  among  them." 
A     I  An  event  that  greatly  alarmed  the  inhabitants  of  the 

4.  island  occurred  soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Court. 
Some  Indians,  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  July  previous, 
kindled  a  fire  on  Mr.  Easton's  land,  whereby  his  house, 
the  first  one  built  at  Newport,  was  destroyed.  A  misun- 
derstanding ensued  that  threatened  the  most  serious  re- 
sults. An  armed  boat  was  fitted  out  to  ply  round  the 
island  to  prevent  any  Indians  from  landing.  Two 
English  were  wounded  and  one  Indian  killed,  in  a  skir- 
mish.    Fortunately  peace  was  soon  restored. 

At  the  ensuing  Court,  the  law  of  liberty  of  conscience 

was  re-enacted.     "It  is  ordered  that  the  law  of  the  last 

Sept.    Court,  made  concerning  Libertie  of  Conscience  in  point  ol 

^^-      Doctrine,  is  pcrjietuated."     A  license  to  practise  surgery 

was  granted  to  Mr.   Robert  Jefireys,  the  Treasurer  of 


DISFEAyCHISEMENT    OF    FREEMEN.  15S 

Newport.     This  is  the  earliest  record  of  a  licensed  sur-    chap. 
geon,  but  it  was  not  the  only  case  where  such  a  license   >__^J^ 
was  granted  by  the  Legislature  in  this  State.     The  price   ifJ-il. 
of  corn  was  fixed  at  four  shillings  a  bushel.     Inspectors 
of  pork  were  appointed,  to  whom  all  swine  killed  on  the 
island  were  to    be  shown,  under  penalty  of  five  pounds. 
Earmarks  for   swine    and  goats   were  regulated  by  the 
Court,  the  right  of  property  in  them  recognized,  and  the 
marks  required  to  be  recorded. 

The  following  spring  the  same  general  officers  were  iG-ti-2 
chosen,  except  that  Mr.  Easton,  who  had  been  super-  jg  17' 
seded  by  Robert  Harding  at  the  last  election,  was  re- 
elected an  assistant,  and  Mr.  Harding  dropped.  ^  These 
gentlemen  continued  in  office  until  the  charter  govern- 
ment was  organized,  five  years  later.  Sentence  of  dis- 
franchisement was  passed  upon  four  freemen,  ^  and  their 
names  struck  from  the  rollj  and  in  case  they  came  armed 
on  the  island,  they  were  to  be  disarmed  and  put  under 
bonds  for  good  behavior.  Unfortunately  the  reasons  for 
this  earliest  decree  of  virtual  banishment  are  not  given. 
Three  others  were  suspended  the  privilege  of  voting,  two  ^ 
until  they  should  give  satisfaction  for  their  offences,  who 
were  afterward  restored,  and  Mr.  Lenthal,  the  minister, 
who  had  returned  to  England.  Amendments  and  altera- 
tions of  laws  were  constantly  made.  Only  such  as  were 
permanent  or  of  special  interest  can  here  be  noticed. 
The  fee  list  was  remodelled.  Any  arms  or  ammunition 
were  forbidden,  under  heavy  fine,  to  be  supplied  to  the 
Indians.  Jurors  were  elected  by  the  freemen  in  town 
meeting.     Those  who  were  only  inhabitants  could  serve, 

'  In  the  term  "  general  officers,"  are  here  included  the  Governor,  Deputy 
Go^-ernor,  the  four  Assistants  and  Secretary  only.  The  two  Treasurers,  two 
Sergeants  and  two  Constables,  one  of  each  for  each  town,  are  not  specified  in 
the  text,  as  their  duties  were  mostly  local,  and  the  repetition  of  so  many 
names  would  be  tedious. 

-  Richard  Carder,  Randal  Holden,  Sampson  Shatton  and  Robert  Potter. 

^  Georoje  Parker  and  John  Briggs. 


154  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  as  well  as  freemen,  on  the  jury,  by  virtue  of  their  freehold 
^^^.^j^  estates.     The  pay  of  the  jurors  was  fixed  at  one  shilling 
1  (5  4  2.  for  every  cause  brought  to  trial. 
19  ■  The   island   abounded    in  wild  animals.     Deer  were 

very  abundant  and  were  made  a  source  of  revenue  ;  every 
man  who  killed  one,  except  on  his  own  land,  being,  at 
one  time,  required  to  give  one  half  of  it  into  the  treasury, 
or  to  pay  a  commutation  of  two  pounds  sterling.  Hunt- 
ing parties  were  sent  out  to  obtain  venison  for  public  use 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Courts.  The  Indians  were  not  al-' 
lowed  to  kill  them,  except  occasionally  by  special  license, 
nor  were  traps  permitted  to  be  set  for  them,  under  a 
penalty  of  five  pounds,  except  by  the  freeholder  on  his 
own  land,  and  at  a  later  period  they  were  protected  by 
game  laws.  Foxes  gave  much  trouble.  A  premium  of 
six  shillings  and  eight  pence  a  head  was  offered  for  them, 
to  be  paid  by  the  treasurer  of  the  town  where  they  were 
killed.  Wolves  were  numerous,  and  so  destnictive  to  the 
cattle  that  men  were  hired  by  the  day  to  hunt  them,  and 
were  paid  besides,  thirty  shillings  a  head  for  every  one 
killed,  which  bounty  was  soon  increased  to  five  pounds, 
and  a  special  tax  levied  for  this  purpose,  to  be  paid  by 
the  farmers  in  proportion  to  their  number  of  cattle. 
Boger  Williams  was  commissioned  to  arrange  with  Mian- 
tinomi  for  a  grand  hunt  to  extirpate  them,  which,  how- 
ever, was  not  so  thoroughly  done  but  that,  for  several 
years,  they  continued  to  be  a  source  of  annoyance. ' 

The  important  subject  of  a  charter,  which  three  years 
before  had  been  discussed,  was  again  considered  at  this 
session,  and  a  committee,  composed  of  the  general  officers, 
with    Mr.    Jeff"reys,  Mr.  Harding  and  Mr.  John    Clark, 

'  Wolves  are  often  mentioned  in  the  records  of  Aquedneck,  as  in  Jan., 
1658,  when  Portsmonth  asked  Newport  to  aid  in  driving  the  island — and 
acain  on  10th  Nov,  16G3,  when  "the  island  was  to  he  driven  the  next  fair 
day  on  account  of  the  destniction  of  sheep  hy  wolves  and  other  vennin." 
On  the  main  land  they  existed  much  longer,  and  were  repeatedly  the  subjects 
of  legislation  hy  the  Asseinhly,  to  the  close  of  the  century,  and  even  later. 


TRADE    OPENED    WITH    THE    DUTCH.  155 

was  appointed  with  full  power  to  act.     Actual  residence  chap 

on  the  island  was  required  to  entitle  any  freeman  to  vote,   v— r^ 

but  no  one  could  be  disfranchised  unless  the  maiority  of  l*^'^^ 
1  -11  1  .  /^   1      ,  Sept. 

the  entire  body  was  present  at  the  meeting.     Only  eleven      19, 

days  before  this  Court  convened,  the  four  Pawtuxet  men, 
mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter,  had  submitted  them- 
selves and  their  lands  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 
An  act  so  dangerous  to  the  independence  of  the  colony, 
and  which  might  be  taken  as  a  precedent  by  other  dis- 
affected persons,  could  not  fail  to  create  much  excitement. 
The  people  of  Aquedneck  promptly  took  precaution  to 
avoid  such  a  peril  to  themselves,  by  adopting  an  order 
that  no  person  should  sell  his  lands  to  any  other  jurisdic- 
tion, or  person  therein  not  subject  to  the  government  of 
the  island,  on  pain  of  forfeiture. 

Arrangements  were  made  at  this  time  to  establish  a 
regular  trade  with  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan.  It  is  indic- 
ative of  the  feeling  existing  towards  Rhode  Island  in  the 
other  colonies  that  she  was  driven  to  this  step  ;  a  feeling 
of  which  the  most  painful  evidence  was  shortly  to  be  given. 
The  governor  and  deputy  were  instructed  to  "  treat  with 
the  governor  of  the  Dutch  to  supply  us  with  neces- 
saries, and  to  take  of  our  commodities  at  such  rates  as 
may  be  suitable."  Had  there  been  a  spirit  of  kindness, 
or  even  of  passive  indifference,  in  place  of  open  hostility, 
in  the  neighboring  provinces,  Rhode  Island  would  not 
have  been  obliged  to  treat  with  the  foreign  and  distant 
settlement  at  New  York  for  the  supply  of  her  wants.' 
But  the  prejudice  excited  by  her  different  faith,  and  more 
liberal  sentiments,  was  about  to  be  manifested  in  an  act 
which  few  men  at  this  day  can  contemplate  without  sur- 

'  Prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  English  the  West  India  Company  established 
a  trading-post  at  Dutch  Island  in  Xarragan?et  Bay.  Mr.  Broadhead  says  • 
'•  About  the  same  time  (1625)  the  Indian  title  to  the  island  of  '  Quotcnis,' 
near  the  '  Roode  Island,'  in  Xarraganset  Bay,  was  secured  for  the  West  India 
Compauy,  and  a  trading-post  was  established  there,  under  the  superintendence 
of  Abraham  Pietersen."  BroaHiead's  History  of  New  York,  ch.  viii.  vol.  1,  p. 
268,  and  note.  Besides  this  the  Dutch  had  two  fortified  trading  posts  on  tha 
•oiUh  shore  cf  Xarraganset,  in  what  is  now  CharJestowu. 


156  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Drise  and  indignation.  The  exposed  condition  of  the 
^^.J,^  country  had  suggested  the  idea  of  a  union  of  all  the  New 
164  3.  England  colonies  in  a  league  of  defence  against  the  In- 
dians, Six  3-ears  before,  just  at  the  close  of  the  Pequot 
war,  when  the  plantation  at  Providence  was  in  its  infancy 
and  the  settlement  of  Aquedneck  had  not  begun,  the  sub- 
ject was  first  considered.  Many  difficulties  served  to  re- 
tard the  consummation,  chiefly  arising  from  jealousy  in 
the  other  colonies  of  the  j)0wer  or  the  designs  of  Massa- 
chusetts. These  fears  had  no  good  foundation,  Unless  on 
the  part  of  Rhode  Island,  which  was  the  only  one  that 
did  not,  at  some  time  during  the  negotiation,  display 
them.  We  have  seen  that  two  years  ago  she  united  with 
Plymouth  and  the  two  Connecticut  colonies  in  a  joint 
letter  to  Massachusetts,  upon  the  subject  that  formed  the 
basis  of  the  confederacy  ;  and  we  have  read  how  those 
overtures  were  approved  as  related  to  the  rest,  and  re- 
pelled with  unmanly  insult  as  regarded  her.  The  times 
now  demanded  immediate  action.  Fears  were  entertained 
of  the  Dutch,  especially  by  Connecticut,  while  the  Indians 
daily  threatened  a  general  combination  to  exterminate 
the  wlii-tes.  They  were  becoming  sui)j)lied  with  fire-arms 
and  skilled  in  their  use.  The  peril  was  imminent.  The 
New  England  confederacy  was  formed  by  Massachusetts, 
jg^  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,  with  their  sub- 
ordinate settlements,  and  styled  the  United  Colonies  of 
New  England .  By  express  stipulation  no  other  jurisdic- 
tion was  to  be  admitted.  It  was  mainly  a  league  for 
mutual  defence,  but  contained  an  article  for  the  rendition 
of  fugitive  servants  and  escaped  criminals,  with  some 
other  matters  of  international  comity.  From  some  sud- 
denly conceived  jealousy  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts, 
Maine,  then  a  propriety  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  which 
had  been  included  in  the  i)reliminary  negotiations,  was 
not  permitted  to  join  the   alliance.  '     Rhode  Island  was 

'  Hubbard  assigns  the  reason,  "  because  they  ran  a  different  course  from 
the  rest,  both  in  their  ministry'  and  their  civil  administrations-     Nor  indeed 


RHODE   ISLAND    REJECTED    BY    THE    LEAGUE,  157 

perhaps  the  most  exposed  of  all  the  colonies,  yet  although  chap. 
the  confederated  States  already  owed  their  existence  to  ^^„^^^.^ 
the  heroism  of  her  founder,  (and  were  shortly  again  to   iti-iS. 
receive  the   benefit  of  that   practical   Chnstianity  which     \g 
they  could  not  comprehend,  in  averting  for   the   second 
time  a    general  war,    by   his    effective  influence    in  the 
wavering   councils  of  the   Narragansetts,)  neither  of  the 
colonies  within  her  limits  was  invited  to  join  the  league, 
and  her  subsequent  application  for  that  object  met  with  a 
stern  refusal.  '     She  was  left  to  stand  alone  amid  dangers 
from  famine,  pestilence  and  war.     Her  only  strength  was 
in  the  valor  of  her  sons  and  the  truth  of  lipr  principles. 
Had  the   lex  talionis  been  her  guide,  as  it  has  been  of 
most  governments,  she  would  have  been  justified  by  the 
necessities  to  wliich   she   was  reduced,  and  might  have 
compelled  admission  to  the  league,  by  withdrawing  her 
restraining  influence  from  the  Indians.     It  is  one  of  the 
brightest  spots  in  her  history  that  in  this  dark  hour  the 
magnanimity  of  her  foundci  actuated  her  councils.     Turn- 
ing from  the  ingratitude  of  the  Puritans,  she  appealed  to 

were  they  at  that  time  furnished  with  inhabitants  fit  for  such  a  purpose,  for 
they  had  lately  made  Agamenticus  (a  poor  village)  a  corporation,  and  had 
made  a  mean  person  mayor  thereof,  and  had  also  entertained  a  contentious 
person,  and  one  under  offence,  for  their  minister."  2  M.  H.  C,  vi.  467.  Yet 
the  year  before  Maine  was  not  considered  so  unworthy.  AVinthrop's  Journal, 
ii.  85. 

'  It  would  be  ungrateful  not  to  acknowledge  the  grace  extended  by  the 
General  Court  to  the  people  of  Aquedneck,  by  a  vote  of  Sept.  7th,  1643. 
"  They  of  Aquidneck  are  granted  to  buy  a  barrel!  of  powder,  provided  Lieut. 
Morris  give  cautiou  that  it  bee  implied  for  the  defence  of  the  iland  by  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Governor  and  Deputy."  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  4-4.  But  even  this  favor 
was  denied  to  the  Providence  colony,  who  were  forbidden  all  trade  with  Bos- 
ton, even  to  the  purchase  of  arms  and  ammunition  in  this  fearful  crisis.  That, 
alter  such  cruel  and  ungrateful  conduct,  Roger  Williams  should  again  inter- 
pose to  save  the  United  Colonies,  when  his  own  life  and  those  of  hi.'*  friends 
were  secure  in  the  love  of  the  Narragansetts,  who  made  a  treaty  of  neutrality 
with  them  at  this  very  time,  reminds  us  of  Gibbon's  comment  on  the  conduct 
of  Belisarius  in  a  case  of  domestic  infidelity,  ''  the  unconquerable  patience 
and   loyalty  of  Belisarius  appears  either  helow  or  above  the   character  of  a 

MAS." 


158  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

the  king.  Koger  Williams  was  sent  to  England  to  inter- 
cede for  a  charter  ;  and  because  the  tyranny  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  would  not  relax,  he  was  obliged  to  take 
passage  at  New  York.  A  free  charter  was  obtained. 
The  despised  colonies  soon  assumed  the  rank  of  a  united 
and  independent  State,  and  to  the  subsequent  harshness  ot 
her  neighbors,  was  enabled  to  oppose  the  language  of  bold, 
but  courteous  remonstrance.  One  of  the  earliest  proceed- 
ings of  the  league  was  to  sanction  the  dark  deed  recorded 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  murder  of  Miantihofiai,  the 
too  faithful  friend  of  Rhode  Island. 
5  '  The  frequent  alarms  led  to  the  establishment  of  a 

night  watch  in  Portsmouth,  which  seems,  to  have  per- 

1643-4.  fectcd  the  system  of  precautions  that  had  so  long  occu- 
pied  the   attention   of  the   people.      The  next  General 

Marcli  Court  changed  the  name  of  Aquedneck  to  the  "  Isle  of 
^^-  Rhodes  or  Rhode  Island."  '  The  last  recorded  act  of 
the  Aquedneck  assembly  declared  that  the  majority  of 
the  major  part  of  the  body  appearing,  should  have  full 
power  to  transact  business,  and  to  impose  penalties  upon 
those  who  did  not  attend,  or  who  left  the  meeting  with- 

16  44.  out  leave. 

M^y  The  alarm  of  Indian  war  again  spread  through  the 

colonies.  A  letter  from  Canonicus  and  Pessicus  was  re- 
ceived by  Gov.  Winthrop,  announcing  their  intention  to 
revenge  upon  Uncas  the  death  of  Miantinomi.  Two 
messengers  were  sent  at  once  to  the  Narragansetts  to  dis- 
suade them,  but  without  effect.  The  people  of  Aqued- 
July-  neck  applied  to  Massachusetts  for  powder,  but  were  re- 
fused, as  Plymouth  had  been,  owing,  no.  doubt,  to  a 
scarcity  of  ammunition  ;  a  refusal  which  Winthrop  re- 
Q  cords  as  an  error  of  policy,  for  '"  although  they  were  des- 
perately erroneous  "  it  would  be  "a  great  advantage  to 
the  Indians"  if  they  were  cut  off,  "and  a  great  inconve- 
nience to  the  English  should  they  be  forced  to  seek  pro- 

'  See  note  on  the  origin  of  this  name  at  the  close  of  ;hapter  ii. 


AQUEDNECK  CLAIMED  BY  TLYMOUTH.  159 

tection   from   the  Dutch."      The  commissioners  of  the  chap. 
United  Colonies,  at  their  next  meeting,  removed  the  im-  .^^^J^ 
mediate    danger,    having   summoned   the   disputants   to  16  44. 
Hartford,  where  an  armistice  was   agreed  upon  till  the 
next  3'ear. 

The  records  of  the  General  Court  of  Aquedneck  now 
cease,  and  no  town  records  of  Newport  remain  to  enlighten 
us  on  the  current  events  of  the  next  two  years.  That 
the  same  general  officers,  who  had  already  heen  elected 
three  successive  years,  and  whose  term  of  office  was  "  for 
one  whole  year,  or  till  a  new  be  chosen,"  continued  to 
carry  on  the  government,  and  that  its  judicial  powers 
were  exercised  by  them  as  far  as  was  necessary,  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  The  mutilated  pages  of  Portsmouth  aid 
somewhat  in  filling  this  unwelcome  gap,  and  confirm 
the  fact  that  if  no  General  Courts  were  convened  in  this 
interval,  town  meetings  were-  held  in  both  the  towns,  and 
their  decrees  executed  by  the  general  officers.  The 
deputy  governor  and  one  assistant  were  authorized  to 
appoint  all  town  meetings  at  Portsmouth.  Leave  was 
given  to  Osamequin,  or  Massasoit,  with  ten  men  to  kill  Aug. 
ten  deer  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  which  were  to  be 
shown  to  Mr.  Brenton  and  Mr.  Balston,  and  -he  was  to 
quit  the  island  within  five  days.  Several  other  meetings 
are  recorded  during  this  year  relating  solely  to  local  af- 
fairs. It  was  at  this  time  that  Plymouth  colony  sent 
a  magistrate  to  Aquedneck  to  forbid  the  government  iTov, 
there  from  exercising  any  authority,  and  claiming  the 
island  to  be  within  their  jurisdiction,  contrary  to  their 
express  admission  at  the  time  of  the  purchase  seven  years 
before. 

A  copy  of  the  instructions  given  to  Mr.  John  Brown, 
who  was  commissioned  for  this  purpose,  is  fortunately 
preserved  by  Winslow,  '  at  that  time  Governor  of  Ply- 
mouth.    These  are  :  1.  That  a  great  part  of  their  sup- 

*  Hypocrisie  Unmasked,  83. 


160  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

posed  government  is  within  the  line  of  the  government  of 
Plymouth.  2.  That  we  assuredly  know  that  this  ever  to 
be  honored  House  of  Parliament  would  not,  nor  will 
when  they  shall  know  it,  take  from  us,  the  most  ancient 
plantation,  any  part  of  the  line  of  our  government  former- 
ly granted  ;  it  being  contrary  to  their  principles.  3.  To 
forliid  them  and  all  and  every  one  of  them  to  exercise  any 
authority,  or  power  of  government  within  the  limits  of 
our  letters  patent.  4.  To  certify  them  that  Coweset ,  is 
not  only  within  the  said  limits,  but  that  the  'Sachem 
thereof  and  his  sons  have  taken  protection  of  "this,  our  gov- 
ernment. And,  therefore,  to  forbid  them  to  enter  upon 
any  part  of  his  or  their  lands  without  due  -order  and  leave 
from  our  government." 

A  settled  purpose  was  displayed  by  the  Puritan  colo- 
nies, soon  after  the  charter  was  received  by  Rhode  Island, 
to  set  it  aside  by  every  possible  plea  that  could  affect  its 
validity.  The  active  measures  thus  taken  by  Plymouth 
were  at  the  same  time  pursued,  yet  more  vigorously,  if 
indeed  they  were  not  directly  instigated,  by  Massachusetts. 
The  more  liberal  Pilgrin:!s  were  overborne  by  the  dictatorial 
spirit"  of  their  Puritan  neighbors,  and  Avere  led  to  press 
claims  which,  had  they  ever  existed,  were  become  invali- 
dated by  their  own  acts.  Yet  this  very  messenger  boldly 
withstood  the  pretensions  of  Massachusetts  to  other  parts 
of  Rhode  Island  as  we  shall  presently  see,  and  was  per- 
haps the  only  man  whose  influence  could  have  sustained 
the  manly  position  he  assumed  in  behalf  of  Shaworaet. 
Gov.  Winslow  says,  that  Mr.  Brown  arrived  at  Aqucd- 
ncck  just  as  a  public  meeting  was  being  held  to  apportion 
lands,  a  measure  disapproved  by  Mr.  Coddingtdn  and 
Mr.  Brenton,  who  kept  aloof  from  it,  and  who  ap- 
prehended danger  from  the  '  lawlessness  of  the  people. 
He  states  also  that  Gorton,  who  after  his  release  from 
prison  in  Massachusetts,  had  again  settled  at  Aqucdneck, 
was  appointed  a  magistrate  and  had  accepted  the  office — 


FIRST   APPRENTICESHIP   IN   RHODE   ISLAND.  161 

a  fact  which  he  adduces  as  proof  that  the  fears  of  the   chap. 
ahove-named  gentlemen  were  well  grounded.     Mr.  Brown's   .^3^ 
mission  was  futile.     Grorton  accuses  him  of  privately  seek-   l  6-i4. 
ing  to  dissuade  the  people  of  the  island  from  recognizing 
the  charter.     The  spirit  of  his  instructions  would  har- 
monize with  almost  any  means  he  might  employ  to  fulfil 
them.     Winslow  says,  he  performed  his  duty  publicly  at 
the  meeting.     This  meeting  was  probably  held  in  Ports- 
mouth to  subdivide    the    lands  there,  as    was  usual   at 
that  time.     No  legible  record  of  it,  or  of  any  other  meet- 
ing for  more  than  a  year,  remains. 

The  fact   that   a  new  government  was  about  to  be  16  45 
formed  under  the  charter,  no  doubt   led  to  this  evident 
neglect  of  the  old  one  so  soon  to  expire.     That  this  apathy 
was  increasing  is  apparent   from  a  vote  at  Portsmouth,     -s^^^ ' 
making  nine  men  a  quorum  at  any  town  meeting,  and  re-      28. 
quiring  that  the  business  to  be  done  should  be  specified 

in  the  warning.  „,    _ 

*=  1646-7 

Newport  had  passed  an  order  that  no  deer  should  be     Feb. 

killed  for  two  months,  which  Portsmouth  concurred  in,  ^• 
assigning  as  the  reason  that  in  that  way  the  wolves  would 
more  readily  come  to  bate  and  so  be  caught.  At  the 
same  time  it  was  ordered  that  of  the  five  pounds  bounty 
on  each  wolf,  which  had  been  established  some  years  be- 
fore, Newport  should  pay  four  and  Portsmouth  one.  An 
act  like  this  could  not  be  valid  unless  passed  by  a  Gene- 
ral Court  or  concurred  in  by  a  town  meeting  at  Newport. 
A  more  efficient  law  for  the  protection  of  deer  was  passed 
at  the  same  meeting,  forbidding  their  being  shot  in  the 
summer,  from  May  to  November. 

The  most  interesting  record  of  this,  the  last  meeting 
of  the  people  of  Aquedneck  under  their  primitive  gov- 
ernment, contains  the  first  notice  of  indentured  appren- 
ticeship in  Rhode  Island.  ■■'  Memorandum  :  That  where- 
as, Nicholas  Niles,  the  father-in-law  of  Abell  Potter,  hath 
[bound  him]  the   said  Abell   Potter  with  Mr.  WilHam 

VOL.  I. — 11 


162  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Balstone  for  the  term  of  eighteen  years,  with  the  consent 
^J!^  of  the  said  Ahell.     For  the  better  sccuritie  off  Mr.  Bal- 
16  47.  stone,  the  towns  consenteth  herein  and  approveth  thereof." 
19^  The  three  months  that   intervened  before   the   first 

General  Assembly  of  the  now  chartered  State  convened 
at  Portsmouth  we  may  suppose  was  employed  in  discuss- 
ing the  aU  absorbing  topic,  and  in  the  preparation  Of  that 
admirable  code  of  laws  then  to  be  presented  for  adoption. 


THE    FOUNDER    OF    WARWICK.  163 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HISTORY  OF  WARWICK  AND  NARRAGANSET  DOWN  TO  THE 
FORMATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  UNDER  THE  FIRST  PA- 
TENT,  MAY,  164Y. 

Warwick  was  settled  some  years  later  than  Provi- 
dence and  Aquedneck,  and  chiefly  by  emigrants  from 
them  ;  but  the  same  primitive  cause,  the  intolerance 
of  Massachusetts,  forced  most  of  its  founders  into  banish- 
ment, while  their  peculiar  views,  differing  from  those  of 
the  other  Ehode  Island  settlers,  influenced  them  in  select- 
ing another  spot  for  their  resting  place.  No  man  has  suf- 
fered more  in  reputation  from  the  calumny  of  his  enemies, 
or  been  made  to  feel  more  severely  the  penalty  of  non- 
conformity, or  the  trials  of  an  independent  spirit,  than 
Samuel  Gorton,  the  founder  of  Warwick.  "  A  most  pro- 
digious minter  of  exorbitant  novelties,"  "  a  proud  and 
pestilent  seducer,"  "  a  beast,"  "  miscreant "  and  "  arch 
heretic,"  are  some  of  the  epithets  with  which  he  has  been 
branded  by  the  malevolence  of  his  age.  It  was  in  vain, 
in  those  days,  that  any  dissenter  from  the  estabhshed 
church  of  Massachusetts  strove  to  deny  whatever  results 
the  authorities  saw  fit  to  ascribe  to  his  views.  The  fate 
of  WilHams  and  of  Clark,  was  sure  to  be  his.  There  was 
no  reason  why  the  Gortonists  should  be  treated  any  better 
than  the  Anabaptists  or  the  Antinomians  had  been,  or 
than  the  Quakers  were  soon  to  be.  The  same  power  that 
had  driven  Williams  into  exile  and  had  disarmed  the  fol- 
lowers of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,   was  ready  to  vindicate  its 


163  7. 


164  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

superiority  upon  tlie  sturdy  spirit  of  Gorton.  In  1636, 
Gorton  arrived  at  Boston  from  London.  But  little  is 
16  3  6.  known  of  Ms  earlier  history,  and  that  little  is  of  no  im- 
portance to  our  present  purpose.  He  soon  removed  to 
Plymouth,  where  "he  gave  some  hopes  that  he  would 
prove  a  useful  instrument."  These  hopes  were  soon  dis- 
pelled by  the  wayward  and  indejxindent  spirit  which  he 
manifested.  Cotton  assigns  as  the  reason  of  his  leaving 
Boston  that  it  was  to  escape  from  the  claims  of  a  creditor 
in  England.  Hubbard  and  Mather,  with  th'eir  accus- 
tomed bitterness,  repeat  the  charge,  but  more  reliable 
historians  are  silent  upon  it,  and  its  truth  has  been 
reasonably  doubted,  from  the  fact  that  a  removal  to  Ply- 
mouth would  not  secure  him  from  arrest.  It  soon  ap- 
peared that  his  religious  views  were  widely  at  variance 
from  those  of  his  associates.  The  key  note  of  a  persecu- 
tion that  was  destined  to  pursue  him  for  many  years,  even 
beyond  the  chartered  grasp  of  civilized  man,  was  early 
sounded  by  one  Mr.  Ralph  Smith,  who  had  formerly  been 
a  minister  at  Plymouth,  and  a  part  of  whose  house  Gor- 
ton had  hired  for  lour  years.  Some  of  Smith's  household 
w^ere  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  morning  and  evening 
religious  service  held  by  Gorton  in  his  family,  which  dis- 
pleased the  former.  Gorton  refused  to  vacate  the  prem- 
ises. The  only  mode  of  ejecting  him  was  by  an  appeal 
to  the  popular  bigotry  through  the  medium  of  the  Court. 
Opportunity  was  not  wanting  in  the  case  of  one  so  pecu- 
liar in  his  views  and  so  fearless  in  expressing  them.  What 
was  the  form  of  the  notion  brought  by  Smith,  or  the  na- 
ture of  the  charge  against  Gorton,  is  not  distinctly  stated, 
but  the  result  was  that  the  contract  was  broken,  he  was 
ordered  to  provide  for  himself  elsewhere  within  a  certain 
time,  and  to  give  bonds  for  his  good  behavior  in  the  in-' 
terval.  A  more  serious  breach  of  order  was  shortly  al- 
leged against  him.  A  female  servant  in  Gorton's  family 
was  seen  to  smile  in  church.     To  escape  the  proceedings 


PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  GORTON.  165 

which  threatened  in  consequence  of  this  overt  act  against   chap, 
the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State,  the  woman  fled  to  the  ^^^.^1^ 
woods.     Gorton  spoke  in  her  behalf,  for  which  he  was  1*>3  7. 
called  to  account  by  the  Court,  where,  conducting  him- 
self in  a  very  rude  and  contemptuous  manner,  his  bonds 
were  forfeited,  he  was  bound  over  to  the  next  General 
Court,  and  required  to  find  new  sureties  for  his  conduct 
till  that  time.     He  obtained  the  sureties  but  immediately 
left  for  Aquedneck.     Morton  mentions  only  the  difficulty 
with  Smith,  and  assigns  this  as  the  cause  of  his  banish- 
ment, which  he  says  was  decreed  on  the  fourth  of  Decem- 
ber 1638,  to  take  place  within  fourteen  days.     Winslow 
and  Gorton  himself,  both  correct  the  error  cf  fact,  while 
other  circumstances  make  it  equally  apparent  that  there 

is  also  an  error  of  date.     Six  months  before  the  time  of 

16  3  8 
his  banishment,  as  given  by  Morton,  Gorton  was  admitted    June 

an  inhabitant  of  Aquedneck,  as  the  records  show.  It  is  20. 
probable  that  the  date  in  Morton  should  be  one  year 
earlier,  and  that  the  sentence  of  banishment  within  four- 
teen days  was  passed  at  a  later  court  than  the  one  in  De- 
cember. The  difficulty  with  the  Court,  in  the  case  of  the 
servant  woman,  happened  after  that  with  Smith,  and  is 
not  referred  to  by  Morton.  Perhaps  the  Smith  case  was 
tried  in  December  1637,  and  the  subsequent  one  at  the 
next  March  term.  Very  soon  after  the  latter  trial,  all 
accounts  agree  that  he  went  to  Aquedneck,  where  a  set- 
tlement had  just  been  commenced  by  the  Antinomian 
refugees.  The  Massachusetts  writers,  while  they  freely 
denounce  the  heresies  of  Gorton,  deny  that  these  were 
the  cause  of  his  banishment.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  charge  brought  by  Smith,  in  the  first  instance,  for  the 
purpose  of  annulling  the  lease  and  thus  ridding  himself 
of  a  disagreeable  tenant,  was  that  of  heresy,  and  the  in- 
ference is  equally  direct  that  the  truth  of  the  allegation 
had  aroused  popular  feeling  against  the  accused.  The 
evidence  is  equally  plain  that  his  conduct,  when  on  trial, 


166  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  was  most  abusive  and  his  language  insulting  to  tiie  Court 
.__^_1_  so  nnicli  so  that  "  divers  people  being  present  desired 
16  38.  leave  of  the  Governor  to  speak  complaining  of  his  sedi- 
tious carriage,  and  requested  the  Court  not  to  suffer  these 
abuses  but  to  inflict  condign  punishment."  Tliat  he  was 
deeply  imbued  with  the  principles  of  "soul  liberty"  al- 
ready established  by  Roger  Williams,  and  indignantly 
repelled  any  attempt  to  fetter  the  free  mind  in  its  com- 
munion with  the  Creator,  is  so  much  in  his  favor,  and  at 
this  day  will  go  far  towards  exculpating  his  conduct  at 
Plymouth. 

In  fact,  it  was  on  this  account  that  he  was  warmly 
received  at  Aquedneck,  and  ever  since,  his  name  has  be  en 
associated  in  this  State,  with  those  whose  first  coming 
hither  was  caused  by  Puritan  persecution.  That  he  af- 
terwards so  severely  suffered  from  this  cause  has  tended 
to  confirm  this  opinion.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the 
minute  account  of  his  offensive  bearing  towards  the  Court 
is  so  consistent  with  the  repulsive  traits  of  his  character, 
as  afterwards  displayed  at  Portsmouth,  and  still  later  at 
Providence,  in  a  more  dangerous  degree,  causing  his  ban- 
ishment from  Aquedneck,  and  his  flight  to  Pawtuxet,  that 
we  are  forced  to  believe  him  not  to  be  so  guiltless  in  his 
couise  at  Plymouth  as  his  defenders  allege.  This  was 
indeed  one  of  those  common  cases  where  neither  party  in 
a  contest  is  altogether  right,  and  in  our  view  of  it  the 
plea  of  persecution  cannot  cover  his  errors  until  a  later 
period  of  his  history.  Uj)  to  this  time  there  is  enough  of 
wTong  apparent  on  both  sides  to  excuse  in  some  measure 
the  conduct  of  each,  according  as  the  sympathies  of  the 
writer  may  incline  him  to  either  party. 

We  might  think  more  favorably  of  Gorton's  course  at 
Plymouth,  had  not  his  avowed  jirinciples,  and  his  acts  in 
accordance  therewith,  been  so  outrageous  as  not  to  be 
borne  by  the  people  of  Aquedneck  ;  beside  which  we  know 
that  the  Plymouth  colony  was  more  hberal  in  its  feeling 


PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  GORTON.  167 

than  that  of  the  Bay,  permitting  a  greater  latitude  of  in-  chap. 
dividual  opinion.  Assuming  as  above  that  the  sentence  ^' 
of  banishment  was  passed  upon  him  in  March,  he  must  16  3  8. 
have  reached  Aquedneck  very  soon  after  the  settlement  of 
Pocasset  commenced.  His  name  appears  the  seventh  on 
the  list  of  fifty-nine  inhabitants  in  October,  with  that  of 
his  companion  John  Wickes,  who,  Morton  says,  was  one 
of  his  earliest  proselytes  at  Plymouth  ;  and  henceforth 
their  fortunes  were  closely  united.  As  an  evidence  of  the 
distinction  in  which  he  was  held  at  that  time,  it  may  be 
stated  that  his  is  one  of  only  four  names  on  the  list  to 
which  Mr.,  used  in  that  day  as  a  special  mark  of  respect, 
is  affixed.  The  date  appended  to  these  names  is  that  of 
their  admission  as  inhabitants,  not  that  of  their  coming 
to  the  island,  which  must  have  occurred  somewhat  ear- 
lier. But  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  Aquedneck  is  a  point 
of  little  moment  compared  with  the  history  of  his  conduct 
while  there.  That  he  was  whipped  and  banished  from 
the  island  has  been  doubted,  '  because  the  State  records 
contain  no  notice  of  the  fact.  The  evidence,  however,  is 
too  strong  to  permit  as  to  doubt  it.  That  it  is  not  found 
on  the  records  is  simply  because  judicial  proceedings  were 
not  entered  there.  But  few  of  the  court  trials  of  that 
day  are  preserved.  Incidental  references  to  them  appear 
occasionally  on  the  State  archives,  as  in  the  case  of 
Wickes,  the  earliest  disciple  and  constant  companion  of  i  6  4  2, 

Gorton.     The  day  after  the  four  men,  ^  who  were  after-  ^aicr 

.  ,16. 

wards  among  the  first  settlers  of  Warwick,  were  disfran- 
chised, it  was  ordered  that  if  they,  with  John  Wickes, 
should  come  upon  the  island  armed,  the  constable  was  to 
disarm  and  take  them  before  a  magistrate,  "  Provided 
that  this  order  hinder  not  the  course  of  law  already  begun 
with  J.  Wickes  ;  "  by  which  it  appears  that  Wickes  had      17 

'  Judge  Eddy  in  Winthrop  ii.  58,  note,  and  Staple's  Simplicities  Defence, 
10. 

-  Richard  Carder,  Randal  Holden,  Sampson  Shatton  and  Robert  Potter. 


1G8  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  previously  got  into  trouble  and  left  the  island — a  virtual 
_J:^  banishment,  although  no  record  of  any  proceedings  against 
10  3  8,  him,  and  no  sentence  of  disfranchisement  is  found,  any 
more  than  there  is  against  Gorton.  It  is  probable  that 
bolh  were  involved  at  the  same  time,  and  that  had  the 
Court  files  been  preserved,  the  judicial  punishment  pro- 
nounced against  both,  of  whipping  and  banishment,  would 
there  be  fuund.  Lechford,  who. resided  in  New  England 
"almost  for  the  space  of  four  years,"  prior  to  August, 
1641,  relates  the  circumstances  ;  Winthrop  and  Morton 
both  refer  to  them,  and  Gorton  himself  not  oidy  does  not 
deny  the  facts,  but,  so  far  as  he  refers  to  his  sufferings 
prior  to  the  settlement  of  Warwick,  corroborates  their 
truth,  speaking  of  "  fines,  whippings  and  banishment  out 
of  all  their  jurisdiction,"  as  suffered  by  himself  and  his 
associates.  The  mi)st  positive  and  detailed  evidence  in 
regard  to  his  conduct  and  treatment  at  Aquedneck,  is 
given  by  Winslow,  in  an  ofiicial  form,  as  agent  for  Mas- 
sachusetts, replying  to  Gorton's  Simijlicities  Defence.  ' 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  statements 
there  officially  promulgated,  however  much  we  may  dis- 
sent from  the  author's  inferences.  That  Winslow  and 
Gorton  were  on  good  terms  personally  at  the  time  of  its 
publication,  although  both  were  in  England  engaged  in 
conflicting  business  pertaining  to  the  Warwick  settlement, 
and  that  Gorton  never  read  but  little  of  it,  appears  by  his 
letter  to  Morton.  ^  Had  the  official  documents  been  false 
he  woidd  certainly  have  seen  them  and  denied  their  truth, 
instead  of  quoting  the  indefinite  remark  of  a  third  per- 
son "  that  he  would  maintain  that  there  were  forty  lies 
printed  in  that  book."     The  contempt  expressed  by  Gor- 

*  Hvpocrisie  Unmasked.  By  Edw.  Winslow,  London,  164fi.  4to.,  103 
pp.  Published  by  Authority,  and  Dedicated  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Warwick.  It 
is  an  extremely  rare  work.  The  writer  examiued  the  copy  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  since  then  the  "  sole  duplicate  "  of  that  copy,  which  is  now  in 
the  splendid  library  of  John  Carter  Brown,  Esq.,  of  Providence. 

"  Hutchinson's  Massachusetts,  i.  552  Ap.  xx. 


Gorton's  views  of  government.  169 

ton  for  the  government  of  Aqiiedneck  as  being  self-con-  chap. 
stituted,  is  of  itself  sufficient  explanation  of  the  source  ^^ 
whence  his  troubles  arose,  while  the  charges  preferred  1 6  3  y 
against  him  by  the  grand-jur}*  of  Portsmouth  justify  the 
punishment  he  received.  He  says  he  conducted  himself 
''  obediently  to  the  government  of  Plimouth,  so  farre  as  it 
became  me  at  least,  for  I  understood  that  they  had  com- 
ission  wherein  authoritie  was  derived,  which  authoritie  I 
reverenced  ;  but  Rhode  Island  at  that  time  had  none, 
therefore  no  authoritie  legally  derived  to  deale  with  me. 
Neither  had  they  the  choice  of  the  people,  but  set  up 
themselves.  I  know  not  any  more  that  was  present  in 
their  creation  but  a  clergie  man  who  blessed  them  in  their 
inauguration,  and  I  thought  my  selfe  as  fitt  and  able  to 
governe  my  selfe  and  family,  as  any  that  were  then  upon 
Rhode  Island,"  That  he  ignored  all  civil  authority  at 
Aquedneck  he  here  admits,  and  gives  his  reasons  for  it, 
thinking  himself  "  as  fit  and  able  to  govern  himself  and 
family,  as  any  that  were  then  upon  Rhode  Island." 
This  spirit  could  not  long  exist  in  harmony  with 
the  views  of  the  settlers  anywhere  in  this  State,  for 
although  there  was  no  law  religion  here,  there  was  an 
organized  government  demanding  respect  for  its  officers, 
and  obedience  to  its  statutes.  The  views  of  Gorton,  as 
above  given  in  his  own  words,  were  too  much  like  those 
which  the  Puritan  calumniators  of  Williams  and  Clarke 
charged  as  being  held  by  their  associates,  that  they  "  de- 
nied all  magistracy  and  churches."  The  banishment  of 
Gorton  refutes  the  slander.  And  yet  Gorton  did  not 
deny  all  magistracy,  but  only  the  right  of  the  people  to 
set  up  for  themselves  a  form  of  government.  After  the 
charter  was  received,  his  mind  was  relieved  upon  this 
point.  Meanwhile  it  was  the  constant  source  of  trouble 
to  himself,  and  of  annoyance  to  his  neighbors. 

The  origin  of  his  difficulty  at  Portsmouth,  as  stated  16  40 
by  Winslow,  was  a  trespass  by  a  cow  belonging  to  an  old 


170  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF   EHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  woman,  upon  some  land  owned  by  Gorton.  The  woman, 
,_.,,_^  while  driving  oflf  her  cow,  was  assaulted  by  a  servant- 
16  4  0.  maid  of  Grorton's,  and  complained  to  the  deputy  governor, 
Nicholas  Easton,  who  had  the  maid  brought  before  the 
court.  Gorton  apj)eared  in  her  behalf,  refusing  to  allow 
her  to  come  to  court.  One  of  the  witnesses  called  for  the 
defence,  gave  testimony  strongly  the  other  way,  which 
enraged  Gorton,  who  commenced  abusing  her,  and  had 
his  friend  John  Wickes  brought  to  the  stand,,  ^ickes 
refused  to  be  sworn.  Gorton  sustained  him  in  the  refusal, 
and  both  insulted  the  court.  At  length- the  Governor 
summed  up  the  case  to  the  jury.  While  doing  this,  Gor- 
ton was  very  abusive  to  the  governor  and  "deputy,  inter- 
rupting the  former  in  his  charge,  insomuch  that  "  many 
of  the  freemen  present  desired  the  court  not  to  sutfer  such 
insolencies."  He  was  committed,  and  when  the  Marshal 
was  ordered  to  take  him  to  prison,  he  cried  out  that  Cod- 
dington  should  be  taken,  Wickes,  Holden  and  others, 
made  so  much  disturbance,  that  an  armed  guard  was  sum- 
moned to  clear  the  way,  and  Wickes  was  put  into  the 
stocks.  After  this  affair,  Gorton  was  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury  as  a  nuisance,  upon  fourteen  separate  counts. 
A  copy  of  this  remarkable  presentment  signed  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Colony,  is  given  by  Winslow,  *  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  The  sum  of  the  presentment  of  Samuel  Gorton,  at 
Portsmouth,  in  Khode  Island,  by  the  Grand  Jury. 

First,  that  Samuel  Gorton,  certaine  days  before  his  ap- 
pearance at  this  Court,  said,  the  Government  was  such 
as  was  not  to  be  subjected  unto,  forasmuch  ^s  it  had  not 
a  true  derivation,  because  it  was  altered  from  what  it 
first  was. 

2.  That  Samuel  Gorton  contumeliously  reproached 
the  Magistrates,  calling  them  Just  Asses. 

3.  That    the   said   Gorton    reproachfully  called    the 

'  Hypocrisie  Unmasked,  p.  54—5. 


INDICTMENT    AGAINST    GORTON.  171 

judges,  or  some  of  the  justices   on  the   Bench,  (corrupt   chap. 
judges)  in  open  Court.  v_^J.>^ 

4.  That  the   said   Gorton  questioned  the  Court  for  1640. 
making  him  to  wait  on  them  two  days  formerly,  and  that 

now  hee  would  know  whether  hee  should  bee  tryed  in  an 
hostile  way,  or  by  law,  or  in  sobriety. 

5.  The  said  Gorton  alleged  in  open  court,  that  he 
looked  at  the  Magistrates  as  Lawyers,  and  called  Mr. 
Easton,  Lawyer  Easton. 

6.  The  said  Gorton  charged  the  Deputy  Governor  to 
be  an  Abetter  of  a  Riot,  Assault,  or  Battery,  and  pro- 
fessed that  he  would  not  touch  him,  no,  not  with  a  pair 
of  tongs  :  Moreover,  he  said,  I  know  not  whether  thou 
hast  any  ears  or  no  :  as  also,  I  think  thou  knowest  not 
where  thy  ears  stand,  and  charged  him  to  be  a  man  unfit 
to  make  a  warrant. 

7.  The  said  Gorton  charged  the  Bench  for  wresting 
witnesse,  in  this  expression,  I  profess  you  wrest  witnesse. 

8.  The  said  Gorton  called  a  Freeman  in  open  Court 
(saucy  boy  and  Jack-an-Apes),  and  said  the  woman  that 
was  upon  her  oath,  would  not  speak  against  her  mother, 
although  she  was  damned  where  she  stood. 

9.  The  said  Gorton  affirmed  that  Mr.  Easton  behaved 
himself  not  like  a  judge,  and  that  himself  was  charged 
either  basely  or  falsely. 

10.  The  said  Gorton  said  to  the  Bench  :  Ye  intrude 
oathes,  and  goe  about  to  catch  me. 

11.  The  said  Gorton  being  reproved  for  his  miscar- 
riage, held  up  his  hand,  and  with  extremity  of  speech 
shooke  his  hand  at  them,  insomuch  that  the  Freemen 
present  said.  He  threatens  the  Court. 

12.  The  said  Gorton  charged  the  Court  with  acting 
the  second  part  of  Plymouth  magistrates,  who,  as  he  said, 
condemned  him  in  the  chimney  corner,  ere  they  heard 
him  speak. 


172  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  13.  The  said  Gorton,  in  open  court  did  professe  to 

,^.^_;^   maiutaine  the  quarrel!  of  another,  being  his  maid- servant. 
16  40.  14.  The  said  Gorton  being  commanded  to  prison,  im- 

periously resisted  the  authority,  and  made  open  procla- 
macion,  saying,  take  away  Coddington,  and  carry  him  to 
prison  ;  the  Governor  said  again,  all  you  that  owne  the 
King,  take  away  Gorton  and  carry  him  to  prison  ;  -Gor- 
ton replyed,  all  you  that  own  the  King,  take  away  Cod- 
dington, and  carry  him  to  prison. 

William  Dyre,  Secretary^" 

Gorton  was  tried,  and  sentenced  to  be  whipped  and 
March,  "banished  from  the  island,  upon  which  he  threatened  an 
appeal  to  King  Charles.  The  sentence  was  executed 
forthwith,  and  Gorton  went  to  Providence.  This  was 
when  "  the  weather  was  very  cold,"  probably  in  March, 
as  a  few  months  later  we  find,  by  a  letter  from  Roger 
1.  Williams  to  Gov.  Winthrop,  that  he  was  "  bewitching 
and   bemadding   poor  Providence."  '     His    reckless    and 

^  This  letter  fixes  the  time  of  Gorton's  being  in  Providence  earlier  by  more 
than  a  year  than  any  other  known  data.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  Providence,  8th 
1st,  1640.  -  Master  Gorton  having  abused  high  and  low  at  Aquidnick,  is 
now  bewitching  and  bemadding  poor  Providence,  both  with  his  uncleane  and 
foul  censures  of  all  the  ministers  of  this  country  (for  which  myself  have  in 
Christ's  name  withstood  him),  and  also  denying  all  visible  and  extemall  or- 
dinances in  depth  of  Familisme,  against  which  I  have  a  little  disputed  and 
written,  and  shall  (the  most  High  assenting),  to  death.  As  Paul  said  of  Asia, 
I  of  Providence  (almost)  all  suck  in  his  poyson,  as  at  first  they  did  at  Aquid- 
nick. Some  few  and  myself  withstand  his  inhabitation,  and  town  privileges, 
without  confession  and  reformation  of  his  uncivil  and  injiuman  practises  at 
Portsmouth  :  Yet  the  tide  is  too  strong  against  us,  and  I  feare  (if  the  framer 
of  hearts  helpe  not)  it  will  force  me  to  little  Patience,  a  little  isle  next  to 
vour  Prudence.  Jehovah  himself  be  pleased  to  be  a  sanctuary  to  all  whose 
hearts  are  perfect  with  him :  in  him  I  desire  nnfeignedly  to  be.  Your  wor- 
ship's true  and  aflPectionate  Roger  Williams." — Winslow^s  Hypocrisie  Unmasked, 
65,56. 

The  trial  of  Gorton  could  not  have  been  in  1639,  as  Hutchinson  was  that 
year  the  Judge  at  Portsmouth,  where  the  indictment  was  found.  Codding- 
ton and  Easton,  the  latter  residing  at  Portsmouth,  were  chosen  Governor 
and  Deputy  Governor,  on  12th  March,  1640,  on  the  union  of  the  two  towns 


POLITICAL   CHARACTER    OF   GORTON,  173 

lawless  spirit,  opposed  as  much  to  magistrates  constituted,  chap. 
like  those  of  Rhode  Island,  by  the  popular  will,  as  to  ^^ 
ministers  supported  by  law,  like  thoseof  the  other  colonies,  16  4  0. 
found  a  fitting  arena  for  its  exercise  in  the  feeble  and  dis- 
tracted plantation  of  Providence.  A  bitter  partisan  by  na- 
ture, with  talent  and  energy  to  consolidate  and  control 
discordant  elements  into  a  vigorous  and  relentless  opposi- 
tion, he  soon  made  himself  the  leader  of  all  who  were 
factious  or  discontented,  and  organized  a  destructive  and 
revolutionary  party  in  the  hitherto  comparatively  peace- 
ful settlement  of  Williams.  The  career  of  Grorton  in 
Rhode  Island  illustrates  how  completely  the  extremes 
of  conservatism  and  radicalism  in  civil  alFairs  may  unite 
in  a  single  mind.  While  on  religious  matters  he  main- 
tained with  Williams  the  great  doctrine  of  the  underived 
independence  of  the  soul,  in  civil  concerns  he  was  an  ab- 
solutist, a  stickler  for  authority,  yielding,  theoretically  at 
least,  entire  obedience  to  chartered  power,  but  ignoring 
any  other,  and  steadily  denying  the  right  of  the  people  of 
Aquedneck  or  Providence  to  govern  themselves,  and 
hence  refusing  to  be  controlled  by  them.  And  because 
of  this  defect  in  the  basis  of  their  government  he  used 
every  effort  to  weaken  or  destroy  it,  assuming  for  that 
object  the  attitude  of  the  veriest  leveller  recorded  in  his- 
tory. His  disorderly  course  in  Providence  was  such  as  to 
prevent  his  being  received  as  an  inhabitant.  It  was  re- 
quired, as  a  condition  of  his  reception,  that  he  should 
confess  the  wrong  he  had  done  at  Portsmouth  and  promise 
reformation,  which  we  presume  to  mean,  that  he  should 
admit  the  error  of  his  theory  of  government.  So  great 
was  the  contention  caused  by  his  presence,  that  Mr.  Wil- 
liams seriously  thought  of  abandoning  his  plantation  and 
removing  to   Patience   Island.     The   next   year   matters 

Gorton  was  in  Pro\dde.nce  in  Oct.,  1640,  and  had  been  there  some  time.  The 
vreiither  was  cold  when  he  went  there,  which  must  therefore  have  been  early 
in  the  spring,  after  the  12th  March,  or  in  April,  1640. 


174  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  grew  worse.     The  refusal  of  the  first  application  of  Gor- 
,^.^_;^  ton  and  his  associates  to  be  received  into  town  fellowship 
1641.  did  not  discourage  them.     A  second  attempt  was  made, 
25      upon  which  William  Arnold,  then  one  of  the  five  "dis- 
posers," to  whom  such  applications  were   referred,  ad- 
dressed a  letter,  "  To  the  rest  of  the  five  men  appointed 
to  manedge  ye  affaires  of  our  Town,"  giving  reasons  based 
upon  the  weak  condition  of  the  town,  why  this  further  re- 
quest should  be  denied.     These  were,   that  Gorton  had 
"  showed  himself  an  insolent,  railing  and  turbulent  per- 
son," since,  as  well  as  before  he  came  to  Providence  ;  that 
some  of  his  company  had  insulted  the  disposers  ;  that 
their  former  request  had  been  refused  and  no  new  reasons 
advanced  why  this  should  be  granted  ;  that  they  had  dis- 
tracted and  divided  the  town  into  parties,  aiming  to  drive 
away  its  founders,  and  had  been  ringleaders  in  breaking 
the  peace  ;  and  finally  he  denies  that  any  element  of  per- 
secution is  contained  in  a  refusal  to  admit  into  a  civil  so- 
ciety men  so  turbulent.     He  concludes  by  offering  his 
house  and  land  for  sale  to  the  town,  as  the  law  required, 
stating  that  if  these  men  are  received  he  shaU  seU  and 
move-  away.'     Not  long  after  this  a  riot  ensued  in  which 
{f^'    some   blood   was    spilt,    and    the   aid   of   Massachusetts 
was  invoked  by  some  of  the  inhabitants.^     Gorton  and 
his  company  moved  to   Pawtuxet  soon  after  this  affair, 
10  42.  where  their  conduct  induced  four  of  the  principal  residents 
6?"'    to  submit  themselves  and  their  lands  to  the  government 
of  Massachusetts.'^     The  "  warrant,"  as  Gorton  terms  it, 
issued  by  Massachusetts  on  this  occasion,  ^  greatly  alarmed 

'  Hypocrisie  Unmasked,  59-62.     New  England  Gen.  Register,  216-18. 

'^  See  ante,  chiip.  iv.,  pp.  110-111. 

'  "  Massachusetts  to  our  neighbors  of  Providence :  Whereas,  Wm.  Arnold 
of  Pawtuxet,  and  Robert  Cole  and  others,  have  lately  put  themselves  and 
their  fumilies,  l.inds  and  estates,  under  the  protection  and  government  of  this 
jurisdiction,  and  have  since  complained  to  us,  that  you  have  since  (upon  pre- 
tence of  a  late  purchase  from  the  Indians),  gone  about  to  deprive  them  of 
their  lawful  interest,  confirmed  by  four  years  possession,  and  otherwise  to  mo- 


PURCHASE   OF   SHAWOMET.  IVS 

his  party,  and  drew  from  them  a  letter,  addressed  "  To  chap 
our  neighbors  of  Massachusetts,"  signed  by  nearly  all  of 
them,  which  afterwards  caused  them  much  trouble.  In 
this  letter  they  justly  call  the  document  "  an  irregular 
note,"  "  because  it  went  beyond  the  bounds  and  jurisdic- 
tions limited  unto  them."  They  then  discuss  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Pawtuxet  men,  of  which  the  "  warrant " 
was  simply  a  formal  notification,  denying  the  claim  of 
Massachusetts  to  extend  her  jurisdiction  beyond  her  char- 
tered limits  on  account  of  any  such  act,  whether  done  by 
English  or  Indians.  The  complaints  of  the  submission- 
ists  are  fully  discussed  and  their  conduct  harshly  reviewed. 
The  invitation  to  implead  them  in  the  courts  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  duly  considered  and  declined  in  terms  of  unspar- 
ing severity.  Through  the  whole  protracted  epistle  there 
is  interwoven  a  mass  of  abtruse  theology,  and  a  parade  of 
biblical  learning,  of  which  the  apj)lication  is  often  difficult 
to  discover,  and  the  chief  object  of  which  is  to  hurl  upon 
those  to  whom  it  is  addressed  a  storm  of  theological  in- 
vective. None  but  a  mystical  enthusiast  could  have 
written  it,  and  he  must  be  a  zealous  antiquary  in  these 
days,  who  would  read  it.*  The  bitter  rebuke  that  it  con- 
tained rankled  in  the  minds  of  the  magistrates,  and  the 
heresy  they  detected  in  its  doctrines  soon  afforded  a  pretext 
for  their  vengeance.  Soon  after  this  letter  was  written 
tlie  Gortonists  left  Pawtuxet,  and  purchasing  of  the  In- 
dians lands  at  Shawomet,  beyond  the  limits  of  Providence, 

lest  them ;  we  thouglit  good  therefore  to  write  to  you  on  their  behalf,  to  give 
you  notice  that  they  and  their  lands,  &c.,  being  under  our  jurisdiction,  we  are 
to  maintain  them  in  their  lawful  rights.  If,  therefore,  you  have  any  just  ti- 
tle to  any  thing  they  possess,  you  may  proceed  against  them  in  our  court, 
where  you  shall  have  equal  justice  ;  but,  if  you  shall  proceed  to  any  violence, 
you  must  not  blame  us  if  we  shall  take  a  like  course  to  right  them."  Signed, 
Jo.  Winthrop,  Governor.  Tho.  Dudley,  Ri.  Bellingham,  Incr.  Nowell.  The 
28th  of  the  8th  month,  1642.     Simp.  Defence,  53. 

^  This  letter  occupies  nearly  one-fifth  of  Winslow's  book,  and  twenty-six 
closely  printed  pages,  60-86,  of  Staple's  Simp.  Defence  R.  I.  H.  C,  v.  2. 


176  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 


removed  to  the  wilderness,  where  English  charter,  or  civil- 
ized claim,  could  legally  pursue  them  no  longer. 

There  w-ere  twelve  purchasers,  but  eleven  of  whom 
are  recited  in  the  deed.'  The  tract  extended  along  the 
bay  from  Gaspee  point  to  Warwick  neck  and  twenty  miles 
inland,  embracing  the  greater  part  of  the  present  town- 
ships of  Warwick  and  Coventry.  The  consideration  was 
one  hundercd  and  forty-four  fathoms  of  wam]nim  peage.* 
The  land  was  conveyed  by  Miantinomi,  chief  Sachem  of 
the  Narragansets  and  hereditary  lord  of  the  soil,-  and  the 
deed  was  witnessed  by  Pomham,  the  local  Sachem  of 
Shawomet,  with  others. 

No  form  of  government  seems  to  have  been  adopted. 
Their  numbers  were  too  small  to  require  an  organization. 
Some  mode  of  adjusting  differences  was  all  they  needed, 
and  this  was  provided  for  by  arbitration,  which  was  the 
essential  feature  of  the  government  of  Providence.  This 
was  only  a  temporary  arrangement  to  continue  until  a 
charter  could  be  obtained  from  England.  Had  they  re- 
mained unmolested  until  the  settlement  attained  greater 
size,  and  no  charter  had  been  received,  it  would  have  been 
curious -to  see  what  method  they  could  devise  to  secure 
social  order  without  violating  their  fundamental  principles. 
But  this  experiment  was  not  to  be  tried.  Scarcely  had 
the  settlement  of  Warwick  begun  when  a  fresh  occasion 
of  strife  was  presented,  arising  from  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  natives,  fomented,  as  there  is  too  much  reason  to  be- 
lievcj  by  the  intrigues  of  Massachusetts.  At  the  first 
meeting  of  the  General  Court  a  committee  of  three,  one 
of  whom  was  William  Arnold  of  Pawtuxet,  who  had  re- 


1G48. 


'  They  were  Randal  Holden,  John  Greene,  John  Weeks  (or  ^\'ickcs),  Fran- 
cis Weston,  Samuel  Gorton,  Richard  Waterman,  John  Warner,  Ricliard  Car 
der,  Samson  Shatton,  Robert  Potter,  William  Wuddall,  and  Nicholas  Power. 
The  latter  is  not  named  in  the  deed,  but  we  learn  from  his  letters  that  he  was 
one  of  the  purehasers,  and  Gorton  mentions  that  there  were  twelve. 
■  '  Equivalent  to  £72  sterling,  if  black  peage  is  meant,  or  half  that  sum  if 
the  payment  was  to  be  in  white. 


'2 '2 


SUBMISSION    OF    THE    SACHEMS    TO    MASSACHUSETTS.  177 

cently  submitted  to  Massachusetts,  was  sent  to  Warwick  chap. 
"  to  understand  how  things  were,"  and  to  bring  back  with  ^^ 
them  a  certain  Indian  if  possible '     On  the  same  day  the  1643. 
magistrates  and  certain  deputies  were  appointed  a  com-      j^' 
mittee  to  treat  with  the  Sachems  of  Warwick  and  Paw- 
tuxet  about  their  submission,  "  and  to  warn  any  to  desist    Ju^e 
which   shall  disturb  them."     The  next  month  Pomham, 
with  Socouoco,  Sachem  of  Pawtuxet,  submitted  themselves 
and  their  lands  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  de- 
nied having  assented  to  the  sale  of  Warwick,  or  having 
received  any  portion  of  the  payment,  and  by  this  act  of 
submission  afforded  another  pretext,  of  which  their  ene- 
mies at  once  availed  themselves,  to  harass  the  unhappy 
Gortonists  in  this  their  last  retreat.     The  proceedings  that 
followed  are  so  extraordinary,  that  we  are  led  to  examine 
closely  the  motives  and  the  means  employed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court. 

Gorton  was  beyond  the  reach  of  any  English  jurisdic- 
tion. Having  left  Pawtuxet,  he  was  no  longer  a  tres- 
passer on  the  lands  of  the  proteges  of  Massachusetts. 
Some  new  pretext  must  be  found  to  secure  their  object, 
A  submission  of  the  Warwick  Sachem  would  furnish  it, 
claiming,  as  Massachusetts  always  did,  that  an  act  of 
submission  to  their  government  by  any  party  extended 
their  jurisdiction  over  the  lands  of  such  party.  Gorton 
had  purchased  Shawomet  of  its  undoubted  lord.  The  at- 
tempt of  Pomham  to  deny  the  sale  is,  to  say  the  least, 
suspicious.  The  witnesses  on  this  point,  at  the  General 
Court,  were  deeply  interested  parties.  Arnold  had  bought 
land  of  Soconoco,  the  Pawtuxet  Sachem,  a  short  time  be- 
fore, and  the  validity  of  his  title  depended  on  establishing 
the  independence  of  his  grantor.  The  Pawtuxet  men 
weie  bitter  against  Gorton,  and  naturally  desirous  to 
please  their  new  and  self-imposed  rulers.  They  were  pro- 
minent, if  not  the  instigators,  in  the  whole  matter.  The 
Narraganset  empire  was  rapidly  falling.     Massasoit  had 

'  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  35. 

VOL.   I 12 


178  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  availed  himself  of  an  English  alliance  to  sever  his  allegi- 
^^^.^^  ance  to  the  Narragansets,  and  the  petty  Sachems  of  Paw- 
1  G43.  tuxet  and  Shawomet  wished  to  follow  his  example.  Eng- 
lish ambition  assisted  their  design.  Miantinomi  was 
shorn  of  his  vassals  by  the  act  of  the  General  Court  in 
receiving  their  submission,  as  a  few  months  later  he  was 
deprived  of  his  life  by  a  like  interested  tribunal.-  The 
motive  in  all  this  is  barely  concealed.  At  the  time  of  the 
submission  of  the  Pawtuxet  men,  Winthrop  honestly  gave 
as  one  reason  for  accepting  it,  that  it  would  furnisii  them 
"  an  outlet  into  the  Narraganset  bay  ;  "  an  xjbject  which 
Massachusetts  kept  steadily  in  view,  and  wTiich  furnishes 
a  key  to  this  dark  intrigue.  One  other  nnjtive  animated 
the  actors  in  the  coming  drama.  The  heretics  yet  lived, 
and  the  sting  of  their  last  impolitic,  although  trTithful, 
letter  could  only  be  assuaged  by  their  blood.  Territorial 
ambition,  religious  bigotry,  and  wounded  pride,  all  united 
to  demand  their  persecution,  and  for  the  time,  blinded 
their  assailants  to  the  illegality,  the  injustice,  and  the 
dishonesty  of  the  means  employed  to  accomplish  theii 
Sept.  end.  At  the  next  General  Court  active  measures  were 
taken  to  follow  up  this  scheme  to  its  consummation.  The 
j2  Comissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  were  in  session,  the 
same  day,  at  Boston.  The  case  of  Gorton  was  referred 
to  them  and  their  assent  obtained,  in  advance,  to  what- 
ever course  Massachusetts  might  see  fit  to  adopt.'  A 
letter,  or  warrant  as  Gorton  again  terms  it,  similar  to  the 
one  sent  on  the  submission  of  the  Pawtuxet  men,  was 
written  to  the  purchasers  of  Shawomet,  informing  them 
of  the  submission  and  the  complaints  of  the  Sachems,  re- 
quiring them  to  appear  at  once  before  the  court,  where 
the  plaintiffs  were  then  present,  and  granting  them  a  safe 
conduct  for  that  i)urpose.  A  verbal  reply  by  the  messen- 
ger was  returned  to  the  court  denying  their  jurisdiction, 
and  rightly  asserting  that  they  were  amenable  only  to  the 

'  Hypocrisie  Unmasked,  p.  79,  where  the  Act  of  the   Commissioners  ia 
published. 


GORTON'S    LETTERS   TO    MASSACHUSETTS.  179 

government  of  Old  England  from  which  they  expected  chap 
"  in  due  season  to  receive  direction  for  their  well  ordering  ..^^^J^ 
in  all  civil  respects."  A  lengthy  letter  was  also  sent,  ad-  164  3. 
dressed  "  To  the  great  idol  General  now  set  up  in  Massa-  ''15  " 
chusetts,"  signed  by  R.  Holden,  if  possible  more  bitter  from 
a  sense  of  accumulated  wrong,  than  that  of  November 
previous.  In  this  letter  they  denounce  the  conduct  of 
Pumham  and  forbid  his  return  to  Shaworaet  ;  they  com- 
plain of  outrages  committed  by  the  Indians  under  the 
shield  of  Massachusetts,  and  refer  to  two  rumored  threats, 
uttered  by  subjects  of  that  government,  which  foreshadow 
the  crimes  that  were  to  follow — one,  that  Miantinomi 
should  die  because  he  had  sold  Shawomet  to  Gorton,  the 
other  that  the  Gortonists  should  be  subdued  or  driven  off 
even  at  the  cost  of  blood.  The  proposal  to  attend  the 
court,  and  the  offer  of  safe  conduct  for  that  jiurpose,  are 
rejected  with  scorn.  An  array  of  charges  are  next  brought 
asainst  the  two  sachems,  and  a  demand  is  made  that  the 
Massachusetts  should  come  to  Warwick  and  answer  them, 
A  postscript  refers  to  their  treatment  of  Mrs.  Hutcliinson, 
news  of  whose  massacre  had  lately  been  received,  and  for 
which  they  are  held  morally  responsible.  The  letter,  as 
usual,  is  full  of  scriptural  allusions  disparaging  those  to 
whom  it  is  addressed.  The  General  Court  could  have 
expected  no  other  reply  than  one  that  would  increase  the 
rancor  engendered  by  the  former  letter.  These  two  let- 
ters were  furnished  to  Winslow,  and  form  the  chief  evi- 
dence against  Gorton,  published  in  his  official  reply  to 
Simplicities  Defence.  They  give  occasion  for  "  certaine 
observations  collected  by  a  godly  and  reverend  divine," 
classed  under  three  heads  : 

1.  Their  reproachful  and  reviling  speeches  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  magistrates  of  Massachusetts. 

2.  Their  reviling  language  against  magistracy  itself 
and  all  civil  power. 


18U  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

3.  Their  blasphemous  speeches  against  the  holy  things 
of  God. 

(rOTton  says  they  "  franied  out  of  them  twenty-six 
particulars,  or  thereabouts,  which  they  said  were  blasphe- 
mous, changing  of  phrases,  altering  in  words  or  sense  ; 
not  in  any  one  of  them  taking  the  true  intent  of  our 
writings  ;  "  and  it  is  certain,  by  Winthrop's  account  of  the 
trial,  that  whatever  may  have  been  the  real  cause  of  hos- 
tility towards  Gorton,  his  heresy  was  the  ostensible  reason 
of  their  severity.  ■    -         ' 

The  court  immediately  dispatched  another  letter,  ac- 
19.  ceding  to  the  demand  of  the  Warwick  men  that  Massa- 
chusetts should  send  to  them,  and  informing  them  that 
they  should  shortlj'^  send  commissioners  to  obtain  satisfac- 
tion ;  adding,  that  an  armed  guard  would  attend  the 
commission,  and  closing  with  the  assurance  "  that  if  you 
will  make  good  your  own  olTer  to  us  of  doing  us  right, 
our  people  shall  return  and  leave  you  in  peace,  otherwise 
we  must  right  ourselves  and  our  people  by  force  of  arms." 
The  following  week  Capt.  Cooke,  Lieut.  Atherton,  and 
Edward  Johnson  with  forty  soldiers  were  s^nt  to  War- 
wick." On  their  way  to  Providence  they  received  a 
third  letter  from  the  "  owners  and  inhabitants  of  Shaw- 
omet,"  informing  them  that  their  offer  to  Massachusetts 
28.  was  a  peaceable  and  not  a  warlike  one,  and  warning  them 
upon  their  peril  not  to  invade  Warwick.  To  this  the 
commissioners  replied  that  they  desired  to  speak  with  the 
men  of  Warwick,  to  lead  them,  if  possible,  to  see  their 
misdeeds  and  repent,  but  if  they  failed  in  that  they  should 
"  look  upon  them  as  men  prepared  for  slaughter,"  and 
would  proceed  accordingly.  This  outrageous  missive 
spread  terror  in  the  humble  settlement  of  Sliawomet.  The 
women  and  children  tied  for  their  lives,  some  to  ttie  woods 
and  others  in  boats  to  gain  the  neighboring  plantations. 
The  men  fortified  a  house  and  there  awaited  their  assail- 
ants.     A  number  of  Providence   men  accompanied  the 


FUTILE    ATTEMPTS    AT    RECONCILIATION.  18] 

troops  to  see  what  would  be  done,  and  to  aid  in  effecting  chap. 
a  peaceable  adjustment  of  the  difficulty,  A  parley  was  .^^^,1^ 
proposed.  Four  Providence  men  were  selected  as  wit-  16  43. 
nesses  thereto.  The  commissioners  briefly  stated  their  28.' 
case  ;  that  the  Grortonists  had  wronged  some  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts subjects,  and  that  they  held  certain  blasphe- 
mous errors  of  which  they  must  repent  or  be  carried  to 
Boston  for  trial,  or  otherwise  be  put  to  the  sword,  and 
their  goods  seized  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  expedition. 
From  this  proposition  the  owners  of  Shaworaet  dissented, 
on  the  ground  that  their  adversaries  would  thus  become 
their  judges,  but  offered  to  appeal  to  England,  which  was 
refused.  The  Gortonists  then  proposed  to  refer  the  dis- 
j)ute  to  arbitration,  offering  their  persons  and  property  as 
security  that  they  would  abide  by  the  decision  of  impar- 
tial men  mutually  chosen  for  the  purpose.  This  seemed 
so  reasonable  that  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  until  a  mes- 
senger could  be  sent  to  Massachusetts  to  learn  the  views 
of  the  magistrates.  The  Gortonists  charge  the  troops 
with  many  outrages  during  this  truce,  which  are  stoutly 
denied  by  Winslow.  The  four  Providence  witnesses  '  sent  ^^^ 
a  letter  to  Gov.  Winthrop  giving  an  account  of  the  par-  * 
ley,  and  entreating  him  to  accept  the  proposal  of  arbitra- 
tion. "  Oh,  how  grievous  would  it  be  (we  hope  to  you) 
if  one  man  should  be  slain,  considering  the  greatest  mon- 
arch in  the  world  cannot  make  a  man  ;  especially  grievous 
seeing  they  offer  terms  of  peace,"  is  the  earnest  language 
they  employ.  The  commissioners  also  wrote  a  letter,  A 
committee  of  the  General  Court  happened  to  be  con- 
vened, upon  news  of  the  murder  of  Miantinomi,  when 
these  letters  were  received.  The  elders,  as  usual,  were 
consulted.  The  result  was  what  we  might  anticipate 
from  such  a  tribunal.  It  was  "  agreed  that  it  was  neither 
seasonable  or  reasonable,  neither  safe  nor  honorable,  for 

'  They  were  Chad.  Brown,  Thomas  Olney,  William  Field,  William  Wick- 
euden.     Simp.  Defence,  108. 


182  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND 

CHAP.  US  to  accept  of  such  a  proposition.  1.  Because  they 
would  never  offer  us  any  terms  of  peace  before  we  had 
sent  OUT  soldiers.  2.  Because  the  ground  of  it  was  false, 
for  we  were  not  parties  in  the  case  between  the  Indians 
and  them,  but  the  proper  judges,  they  being  all  within 
our  jurisdiction  by  the  Indians  and  English  their  own 
grant.  3.  They  were  no  State,  but  a  few  fugitives  living 
without  law  or  government,  and  -so  not  honorable  for  us  to 
join  with  them  in  such  a  course.  4.  The  parties  whojn 
they  would  refer  it  unto  were  such  as  were  rejected  by  us, 
and  all  the  governments  in  the  country,  and  besides,  not 
men  likely  to  be  equal  to  us,  or  able  to  judge  of  the 
cause.  5.  Their  blasphemous  and  reviling  writings,  etc., 
were  not  matters  fit  to  be  compounded  by  arbitrament, 
but  to  be  purged  away  only  by  repentance  and  public 
satisfaction,  or  else  by  public  punishment.  And  lastly, 
the  commission  and  instructions  being  given  them  by  the 
General  Court,  it  was  not  in  our  power  to  alter  them."  ' 
Gov.  Winthrop  replied  to  the  Providence  letter,  declining 
arbitration.  The  commissioners  were  directed  to  pr(jceed 
at  once.  They  notified  the  besieged  that  the  truce  had 
■  expired.  A  final  effort  was  made  to  speak  with  the 
commissioners,  but  failed.  The  Providence  men  were 
warned  to  have  no  more  intercourse  with  those  of  Shawo- 
met.  All  hope  of  accommodation  was  at  an  end.  The 
cattle  were  first  seized  and  then  the  assault  commenced. 
The  Warwick  men  hung  out  the  English  flag  in  token  of 
their  allegiance  to  Old  England.  It  was  immediately 
riddled  by  the  shot  of  their  assailants.  The  troops  had 
entrenched  themselves  and  opened  a  regular  system  of 
approaches,  so  that  the  siege  lasted  some  days.  During 
all  this  time  the  Gortonists  acted  solely  on  the  defensive, 
not  firing  a  shot,  although  prepared  to  do  so  in  case  the 
house   should  be  set  on  fire,  or  a  forcible   entry  be  at- 

'  Winthrop,  ii.  139,  40.     How  far  these  reasons  justify  Gorton's  saspicione 
of  the  impartiality  of  his  adversaries,  the  reader  can  judge. 


ATTACK    UPON    WARWICK.  183 

tempted.  On  Sunday  morning  the  works  of  the  besiegers 
were  advanced  so  near  the  house  that  an  eff(jrt  was  made 
to  set  it  on  firp,'  which  failed.  The  commissioners  sent 
to  Massachusetts  for  more  soldiers.  The  affair  had  reached 
a  crisis.  The  Gortonists  must  surrender,  or  a  fearful 
slaughter  on  both  sides,  with  certain  death,  under  form 
of  law,  to  those  of  the  besieged  who  might  survive  the 
conflict,  would  result.  They  submitted  to  superior  force, 
and  were  carried  in  triumph  as  prisoners  to  Boston,"  where  j?} 
they  were  committed  to  jail  to  await  their  trial.  The 
next  Sabbath  morning  the  prisoners  refused  to  attend  ^^' 
church.  The  magistrates  determined  to  compel  them. 
They  agreed  to  do  so  if  they  might  have  liberty  to  speak, 
should  occasion  require,  after  the  sermon.  This  was  con- 
ceded, so  accordingly  they  came  in  the  afternoon.  Mr. 
Cotton  preached  at  them  about  Demetrius  and  the  shrines 
of  Ephesus,  after  which,  Gorton,  leave  being  granted,  re- 
plied, somewhat  varying  the  application  of  the  text,  to 
the  great  scandal  of  his  hearers.'^ 

*  Gorton  says  this  was  a  violation  of  the  articles  of  surrender,  hy  which 
they  were  to  "go  along  with  them  as  freemen  and  neighbors,''  and  not  as 
captives ;  and  also  that  they  took  eighty  head  of  cattle,  besides  swine  and 
goats  which  were,  divided  among  themselves  and  their  subjects,  and  broke 
open  the  houses,  robbing  the  corn  and  other  supplies.  A  part  of  these  allega- 
tions are  rather  feebly  denied  by  Winslow,  while  other  parts  are  admitted 
by  Winthrop.  Gorton  in  a  note  on  page  119,  Staples'  Simplicities  Defence, 
taunts  his  captors  with  the  extent  of  their  triumph,  "  a  whole  country  to 
carry  away  eleven  men,"  and  says  that  one  had  died,  Sampson  Shatton,  be- 
fore, of  his  hardships,  and  but  ten  handled  arms  in  this  memorable  siege. 
Winthrop,  p.  140,  says  three  escaped,  and  that  nine  were  brought  in  as  pris- 
oners, p.  142,  but  the  Court  records  show  that  ten  were  put  on  trial. 

■^  This  was  not  the  last  time  that  our  over-zealous  neighbors  found,  to  use 
an  expressive  phrase,  that  they  had  "  caught  a  Tartar."  The  author  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  note  to  1  M.  H.  C,  ix.  38,  relates  a 
pertinent  anecdote  as  having  come  under  his  own  observation  in  Boston.  "  A 
man  from  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  was  accused  of  blasphemy,  and  brought 
bfifore  a  Court  of  Justices.  He  was  said  to  be  a  Deist,  an  Atheist,  blasphemer 
of  the  Bible,  &c.  He  denied  it  all.  Witnesses  were  produced  who  had  heard 
him  say  that  the  Bible  was  not  the  word  of  God.  He  acknowledged  that  he 
said  it,  and  that  every  Christian  would  say  the  same  ;  that  he  was  no  Atheist 


184  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

Gorton  and  his  company  were  brought  before  the 
court  upon  the  following  charge  of  heresy  and  sedition  ; 
"  Upon  much  examination  and  serious' consideration  of 
your  writings,  with  your  answers  about  them,  wee  do 
charge  you  to  bee  a  blasphemous  enemy  of  the  true  re- 
ligion of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  holy  ordinances, 
and  also  of  all  civil  authority  among  the  people  of  God, 
and  perticularly  in  this  jurisdiction."  It  is  worthy  of  no- 
tice that  nothing  is  here  said  about  Pumham.  The  os- 
tensible cause  of  the  first  summons  by  Massachit^tts  is 
no  longer  regarded  now  that  the  heretics  -are  in  their 
power.  Upon  this  absurd  accusation,  containing  no  fact 
that  admitted  of  any  possible  rejjly,  the .  captives  were 
2Q  put  on  trial  for  their  lives.  A  warrant  was  also  issued  for 
the  arrest  of  Waterman,  Power,  and  John  Greene  and  son, 
who  had  fled  dining  the  siege.  The  two  former  appeared  ; 
the  latter  escaped  entirely.  The  prisoners'  exceptions  to 
the  jurisdiction  were  overruled  on  the  ground  that  Ply- 
mouth claimed  them,  and  had  yielded  its  power,  in  this 

or  Deist,  hut  loved  his  Redeemer,  and  venerated  his  Bible.  Being  asked  how 
he  could  be  consistent,  he  answered,  '  That  his  Bible  told  him  that  Christ  was 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Bible  a  record  of  the  divine  irill.  Tiiis  was  all  he 
meant  by  saying  the  Bible  was  not  the  Word  of  God.'  He  was  dismissed, 
and  he  laughed  heartily  at  his  accusers.  This  man  had  been  a  Quaker 
preacher ;  became  a  preacher  of  the  Universalists,  and  had  a  small  congrega- 
tion in  the  county  of  Berkshire,  in  1794 ;  but  has  never  been  permitted  to 
preach  in  the  other  churches  of  Universalists,  his  notions  being  very  peculiar, 
and  such  his  manner  of  expressing  himself  as  people  of  all  persuasions  must 
dislike.  Yet  he  possesses  that  acuteness  of  reasoning,  and  recollective  mem- 
ory for  quoting  Scripture,  which  would  have  been  fully  equal  to  Gorton,  had 
he  met  with  the  same  opposition.  But  the  spirit  of  persecution  has  flown 
from  this  State,  to  the  mortification  of  many  who  vvish  to  be  of  consequence, 
and  would  fain  raise  its  ghost,  for  the  sake  of  complaiiiing  of  the  present 
magistrates  and  clergy,  but  cannot  find  even  the  shadow  on  the  wall." 

The  writer  of  this  history  desires  here  to  express  his  concurrence  in  the 
truth  and  the  spirit  of  the  concluding  sentence  above  quoted,  because  thus  far 
in  the  progress  of  this  work  the  ho.stility  between  the  two  colonies  was  so  con- 
Btant  that  a  casual  reader  might  infer  that  the  feeling,  for  which  there  was  so 
much  occasion  two  centuries  ago,  still  lingered,  at  least  in  the  mind  of  the 
author.     This  he  expressly  disavows,  and  only  regrets  that  the  nature  of  hie 


WINSLOW'S    DEFENCE    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  185 

case,  to  the  Bay  ;  and  that,  if  they  were  under  no  juris- 
diction, then  Massachusetts  had  no  redress  for  her  wrongs, 
and  must  either  right  herself  by  force  of  arras,  or  submit  16  43. 
to  their  injuries  and  reviUngs.  This  was  but  a  weak  de-  20. 
fence  in  a  desperate  cause  ;  nor  is  it  strengthened  by  the 
special  pleading  of  Winslow,  who  says,  on  this  important 
point,  "  And  if  any  ask  by  what  authority  they  went  out 
of  their  own  government  to  do  such  an  act,  know  that  his 
former  seditious  and  turbulent  carriage  in  all  parts  where 
he  came,  as  Plymouth,  Ehode  Island,  a  place  of  greatest 
liberty,  Providence,  that  place  which  releived  him  in  that 
his  so  great  extremity,  and  his  so  desperate  close  with  so 
dangerous  and  potent  enemies,  aad  at  such  a  time  of  con- 
spiracy by  the  same  Indians,  together  with  the  wrongs 
done  to  the  English  and  Indians  under  the  protection  of 
that  government  of  the  Massachusetts,  who  complained 
and  desired  relief ;  together  with  his  notorious  contempt 
of  all  civil  government,  as  well  as  that  particular,  and 
his  blasphemies  against  God,  needlessly  manifested  in  his 
proud  letters  to  them.  All  these  considered  you  shall  see 
hereby  cause  enough  why  they  proceeded  against  him  as 
a  common  enemy  of  the  country."  If  these  general 
charges  were  the  real  cause  of  their  proceedings,  why  are 
they  not  all  specifically  alleged  in  the   indictment,  since, 

theme  requires  him,  while  speaking  of  the  Puritans,  to  dwell  almost  wholly 
upon  the  dark  side  of  characters  that  possessed  so  much  real  piety  and  essential 
greatness  of  soul.  The  Massachusetts  writers  of  recent  date  have  well  atoned 
for  the  injustice  committed  by  their  forefathers,  displaying  the  liberality  of 
feeling  which  ever  accompanies  elegant  scholarship.  Bancroft,  Dean,  Elliott, 
Felt,  Hildreth,  Savage,  Sparks,  Upham,  Young,  and  since  this  work  was  com- 
menced, Mr.  Barry's  stirring  and  truthful  volumes,  have  all  illustrated  the  tri- 
umph of  truth  over  prejudice,  and  shown  how  a  scholar  may  rise  superior  to 
the  biases  thut  misled  his  ancestors.  The  times  have  changed,  and  the  sev- 
enteenth century  was  the  period  of  transition.  The  Puritans  exemplified  the 
spirit  of  the  past :  the  foimders  of  Rhode  Island  foreshadowed  that  of  the  fu- 
ture ;  and  we  of  the  present  may  render  justice  and  do  honor  to  both,  by 
placing  ourselves,  so  far  as  practicable,  in  the  position  of  those  whose  acts 
we  record.  The  Puritans  we  should  view  in  the  light  of  bygone  centuries  ; 
their  opponents  in  that  of  the  present  age,  which  has  adopted  their  principles. 


186  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  if  true,  they  might  easily  be  proved  ? — instead  of  which 

„_„.^_;^  the  latter  only  is  brought  out  at  the  trial,  and  the  whole 

1G43.   attention  of  the  Court  engaged  in  i)rovin";  it. 
Oct 
20.  Their  letters  were  produced  as  evidence  against  them. 

These  they  were  required  to  retract  or  explain,  which 
they  refused  to  do.  "  The  Court  and  the  elders  spent 
nearly  a  whole  day  in  discovery  of  Gorton's  deep  myste- 
ries, which  he  had  boasted  of  in  his  letters,  and  to  bring 
him  to  conviction,  but  all  was  in  vain."  He  denied  the 
consequences  imputed  to  them  by  the  elders,  and  shroud- 
ing his  opinions  beneath  an  impenetrable  v'eil  of  mysti- 
cism, maintained  them  to  the  last.  A  series  of  questions 
were  propounded  by  the  Court,  upon  which  he  was  to 
answer  for  his  life.     These  were  — 

1.  Whether  the  Fathers,  who  died  before  Christ  was 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  were  justified  and  saved  only  by 
the  blood  which  he  shed,  and  the  death  which  he  sutiered 
after  his  incarnation  ! 

2.  Whether  the  only  price  of  our  redemption,  were 
not  the  death  of  Christ  upon  the  cross,  with  the  rest  of 
his  sufferings  and  obediences  in  the  time  of  his  life  here, 
after  he  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ! 

3.  Who  is  that  God  whom  he  thinks  we  serve  ? 

4.  What  he  means,  when  he  saith.  We  worship  the 
star  of  our  god  Remphan,  Chion,  Moloch  ?  Written  re- 
plies, signed  by  himself,  were  given  to  the  Court.  They 
appeared  so  reasonable  that  even  the  governor  said  he 
could  agree  with  them  in  their  answers  though  not  in  their 
writings,'  to  which  concession  the  bigoted  Dudley  object- 
ed, while  the  more  liberal  Bradstreet,  at  Gorton's  desire, 
requested  that  no  further  questions  should  be  put  to  him. 

It  was  a  peculiarity  of  the  mystical  philosophy  of  the 
age,  that  ideas  were  couched  in  language  ol"  which  the 
apparent  menning  would  lead  to  every  excess,  and  which 

'  Simps,   Defence,  132.     Hutch.  Hist,  of  Mass.,  i.  121.     Eccles.    Hist,  of 
Mass.,  37. 


SENTENCE    OF    THE    GORTONISTS.  187 

were  too  transcendental  to  be  otherwise  understood  by  tbe  chap. 
greater  part.     Such  ideas  were  announced  and  defended  ^^ 
by  Gorton  and  the  Antinomian  school,  all  of  which,  as  i  « 4  ;i 
explained  by  the  promulgators,  were  harmless  enough  ;  but 
their  danger  consisted  in  the  possible  and  probable  abuse 
of  them  by  the  masses,  while  their  opponents,  as  in  the 
present  tiial,  imputed  to  them  results  which  the  authors 
denied.     Heresy  was  the  only  charge  against  the  Gorton- 
ists,  and  the  sole  object  to  which  the   attention  of  the 
Court  was  directed.     The  crime  being  sufficiently  proved, 
the  punishment  was  the  next  consideration. 

Upon  this  "  the  Court  was  much  divided."  The  case  x- 
of  Gorton  was  the  most  difficult.  All  the  magistrates,  but  3. 
three,  condemned  the  great  heresiarch  to  death,  but  a 
majority  of  the  deputies  refused  to  sanction  the  diabolical 
sentence.  In  the  end  he,  with  six  others,  were  sentenced 
to  be  confined  in  irons,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Court, 
to  be  set  to  work,  and  should  they  break  jail,  or  in  any 
w'ay  proclaim  heresy  or  rejjroach  the  church  or  State, 
then,  upon  conviction  thereof  they  should  suffer  death. 
They  were  sent  to  different  towns,  Gorton  to  Chadestown, 
Wicks  to  Ipswich,  Holden  to  Salem,  Potter  to  Rowley, 
Carder  to  Roxbury,  Weston  to  Dorchester,  and  Warner 
to  Boston.  The  other  three  were  more  mildly  treated. 
Waddell  was  allowed  to  remain  at  large  in  Watertown  ; 
Waterman,  giving  bonds  to  appear  at  the  next  Court, 
was  dismissed  '  with  a  fine,  and  Power,  denying  having 
signed  the  first  letter,  a  year  previous,  was  dismissed  with 
an  admonition.  A  warrant  was  forthwith  directed  to  the 
constables  of  the  several  towns  to  be  ready  within  one 
week  to  receive  the  prisoners.  Their  cattle  were  appraised 
and  sold  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  seizure  and  trial,-     The 

'  At  the  Court  on  the  29th  May  following,  being  "  found  erroneous,  he- 
retical and  obstinate,"  he  was  remanded  to  prison  till  the  September  Coiirt, 
unless  five  magistrates  should  meanwhile  see  cause  to  send  him  away,  in 
which  case  he  was  banished  on  pain  of  death.     M.  C.  R.,  ii.  73. 

-  The  justice  of  this  piece  of  judicial  robbery  can  only  be  defended  on 


188  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  prisoners  were  allowed  to  name  two  of  the  five  appraisers 
,^„.^  selected  fur  this  pur[)Ose,  which  they  properly  declined  to 
'.  <»4  3.  do.'  The  convicts,  secured  in  chains,  were  sent  off  to  the 
several  towns  named  in  their  sentence,  not  however  till 
they  had  been  paraded  in  a  body  before  the  congregation 
at  Mr.  Cotton's  lecture,  with  their  irons  upon  them,  as  an 
instructive  spectacle.  In  this  condition  they  were  con- 
fined the  whole  winter,  in  the  course  of  which  Gorton  ac- 
cused Cotton  of  having  advised,  in  a  sermon,  that  he 
16434.  should  be  starved  to  death.  This  charge  could-  searcel;^ 
12.  ^6  credited  had  not  the  elders  and  magistrates,  at  the 
trial,  doomed  him  to  die.  This  led  Gorton  to  write  a  let- 
ter to  the  ruling  elder  of  the  Charlestown  cliurch,  which 
is  preserved  in  his  book.  But  public  opinion  did  not  sus- 
tain such  severe  proceedings,  and  what  was  more  to  be 
dreaded  by  these  zealots,  the  prisoners  corrupted  the  peo- 
ple with  their  heresies.  Now  this  offence,  by  the  terms 
of  the  sentence  passed  upon  them  in  November,  was  to 
be  punished  with  death  ;  but  a  mightier  power  demanded 
their  release.  At  the  next  General  Court  they  were  set 
V.  at  liberty,  and  banished  from  all  places  claimed  to  be 
within  -the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  including  Prov- 
idence, and  the  lands  of  the.  subject  Indians  ;  and  if  found 
anywhere  within  those  limits  after  fourteen  days,  they 
were  to  suffer  death. '^  But  even  this  brief  period  was  not 
allowed   them,  for  three  days   after,  while  Gorton  and  a 

some  such  ground  as  that  taken  by  the  "  cannie  Scot,"  in  the  anecdote  quoted 
by  Judge  Staples,  in  a  note  to  Simplicities  Defence,  p.  136,  as  having  occurred 
several  years  since  in  the  island  of  Jamaica.  "  A  Scotch  officer,  with  sev- 
eral others  of  his  corps,  engaged  in  a  billiard  match  with  some  Jews.  The 
children  of  Israel,  it  seems,  were  much  too  expert  at  that  game  for  the  Cale- 
donian and  his  companions.  The  latter,  after  having  lost  some  money,  mus- 
tered their  whole  joint  stock,  and  staked  it  against  the  sons  of  circumcision  ; 
the  game  was  played  ;  the  Scot  lost ;  but  he  swept  the  stakes  into  his  hat, 
drew  his  sword,  and  protected  by  his  friends,  retired,  calling  out,  '  D — n  yen 
sauls,  ye  scoundrels,  yere  a'  enemies  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'" 

'  See  M.  C.  R.  ii.  51-4  for  official  proof  of  the  foregoing  facts. 

»  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  57. 


10. 


THE    GORTONIST'S    RETURN    TO    AQUEDNECK.  189 

few  others  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  their  comrades  at 
Boston,  a  warrant  from  the  Governor  was  served  on  them, 
ordering  them  to  leave  the  town  within  two  hours.  They 
departed  for  Aqiiedneck,  lodging  one  night  in  their  own 
houses  at  Shawomet,  whence  they  wrote  a  letter  to  Gov. 
Winthrop  to  inquire  if  their  own  purchased  territory  was 
included  in  the  sentence  of  banishment.  To  this  the 
Governor  replied  that  it  was,  and  ordered  them  to  leave  April 
on  peril  of  their  lives.  They  did  so,  and  once  more  sought 
refuge  at  Aquedneck.  Thus  ended  these  atrocious  pro- 
ceedings, which  form  one  of  the  darkest  pages  in  the  his- 
tory of  Massachusetts.' 

The  controversy  was  about  to  be  transferred  to  England. 
The  settlement  of  Warwick  Avas  for  a  time  suspended. 
Its  persecuted  owners  were  kindly  received  at  Aquedneck, 
whence  they  had  been  driven  in  disgrace  a  few  years  be- 
fore. The  cause  for  which  they  had  since  suffered,  and 
the  measure  of  cruelty  they  had  lately  received,  were 
enough  to  ensure  them  an  earnest  welcome.  Here  they 
hired  houses  and  lands,  and  remained  till  after  the  recep- 
tion of  the  charter  had  deprived  their  enemies  of  the  last 
semblance  of  claim  to  intermeddle  with  the  affairs  of 
Rhode  Island. 

It  jDroduced  a  curious  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  In- 
dians, that,  after  such  harsh  treatment,  and  so  many 
threats  from  their  opi^onents,  the  Gortonists  had  returned 

'  The  details  of  this  memorable  trial  remind  us  of  the  application  of  a 
nursery  rhyme  as  made  by  the  late  Archbishop  of  Dublin  : — 

"  Old  Father  Long-le^  wouldn't  say  his  prayers : 
Take  him  by  the  right  leg- 
Take  him  by  the  left  leg- 
Take  him  fast  by  both  legs— 
And  throw  him  down  stairs!  " 

"  There,"  said  his  Grace,  "  in  that  nursery  verse  you  may  see  an  epitome 
of  the  history  of  all  religious  persecution.  Father  Long-legs  refusing  to  say 
the  prayers  that  were  dictated  and  ordered  by  his  little  tj'rants,  is  regarded  as 
a  heretic,  and  suffers  martyrdom."  Who  shall  say  hereafter  that  there  is  no 
moral  conveyed  in  Mother  Goose's  Melodies  ? 


190  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   alive.     They  ima<^inecl  tliat  two  distinct  races  inhaluted 

,^,.^_;^  Old  England,  one  the  English,  whom  they  called  Watta- 

16  44.  conoges,'  and  the  rival  race  they  now  termed   Gortonoges. 

I        The   civil  war,  of  which  they  had  heard,  confirmed  this 

idea,   and   the   release   of  the   Gortonists  they  naturally 

enough  attributed  to  the  preponderance  of  the  Gortonoges 

at  home,   which   alarmed  the   English  lest   they  should 

come  over  to  America,  and  revenge  the  injuries  that  their 

feebler  compatriots  here  had  sustained. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  Gorton  the  Narragansets  sent 
messengers,  asking  him  and  his  friends  to  conje  over  and 
speak  with  Canouicus.  The  venerable  savage,  with  Pes- 
sicus,  the  brother  and  successor  of  Miantinomi,  received 
them  with  a  courtesy  to  which  they  had  long  been  stran- 
gers. A  council  of  the  tribe  was  assembled.  Their  own 
situation,  impoverished  by  the  heavy  ransom  paid  in  vain 
for  the  life  of  their  murdered  prince,  and  the  condition  of 
their  guests,  robbed  by  the  same  remorseless  power,  formed 
the  subject  of  their  conference.  The  result  was  most  im- 
portant. This  powerful  tribe,  upon  whose  fidelity,  in 
former  years,  had  hung  the  destiny  of  New  England,  vol- 
untarily submitted,  in  a  body,  "unto  the  government  and 
protection  of  that  honorable  State  of  Old  England."  In 
^^-  a  written  instrument  they  declared  their  allegiunoe  to 
King  Charles,  "  upon  condition  of  His  Majesty's  royal 
protection  ;  "  and  the  signers,  as  having  been  successively 
from  time  immemorial,  sovereign  princes  of  the  country, 
say  that  they  cannot  yield  "  unto  any  that  are  subjects 
themselves  in  any  case."  They  appointed  Gorton,  Wicks, 
Holden  and  Warner  their  agents  to  carry  their  submis- 
sion to  England  ;  soon  after  which  Gorton  'and  Holden 
embarked   at   New    York    with   the    instrument."^      The 

'  Signifying  coatmen,  or  those  who  wefir  clothes.  R.  Wms  Key  R.  I.  IT. 
C,  i.  60. 

"  The  exact  time  of  Gorton's  departure  is  unknown.  Staples  and  Mackie 
Bay  it  was  "  in  1644,  probahly  in  tlie  summer;  "  but  by  Gov.  Winslow's  ac- 
count in  his  answer  to  Gorton's  Simplicities  Defence,  it  appears  that  in  No- 


MASSACHUSETTS    ATTEMPTS   TO    SETTLE    WARWICK.  191 

other  two  remained  at  home.     John  Grreene,  of  Warwick,   chap. 
also  accompanied  Grorton.     Besides  their  Indian  agency,    ^^..^.^^ 
their  business  was  to  enter  a  complaint  with  the   Com-  1644. 
missioners  of  Foreign  Plantations  against   Massachusetts, 
in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Shawomet,  to  obtain  for  them 
the  restoration  of  their  property.     Notwithstanding  the      17. 
arrival  of  Mr.  Williams  with  the  free  charter  of  Provi- 
dence,  Massachusetts  strove,  though  vainly,  to  continue 
her  usurpation  over  the  lands  of  Shawomet.     A  notice 
was  issued  warning  any  persons  from  settling  there  with-      jg  ' 
out  leave  from  the  General  Court.     The  following  year  a 
yet  bolder  step  was  taken  by  the  General  Court.     A  pe-     ^"^^^ 
tition,  signed  by  thirty-two  persons,  of  whom  twenty  were       1. 
freemen,  asking  for  the  lands  of  Pumham,  was  granted. 
Ten  thousand  acres  were  given  them.     They  had  power 
to  admit  or  keep  out  others  as  they  pleased.     Benedict 
Arnold  was  appointed  to  negotiate  with  the  sachem  for 
his  right  in  any  improved  ground.     The  houses  of  the 
Gortonists  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  petitioners, 
provided  only  that  they  should   pay  to  the  owiui  ^  what 
the  Court  should  appoint,  "  if  they  see  cause  &o  to  do," 
and  that  ten  families  should  taue  possession  within  one 
year.'     No  settlement  upon  this  grant  was  made.     Mr. 
John  Brown,  a  magistrate  of  Plymouth,  and  then  one  of 
the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  prohibited  the 
settlement,  claimmg  the  lands  as  within  Plymouth  juris- 
diction, and  saying  it  should  be  restored  to  the  rightful 
owners,  Gorton  and  his  associates.     This  bold  stand,  so 
creditable  to  Brown,  although  partially  disowned  by  his 
government,  deterred  the  settlers,"^  and  before  the  dispute 

vember  of  that  year  he  was  still  at  Aquedneck,  and  was  a  ma,Lristrate  there 
when  Mr.  John  Brown  was  sent  to  assert  the  Plymouth  claim  to  the  island. 
Winslow  was  Governor  of  Plymouth  that  year,  and  signed  Brown's  commis- 
sion Nov.  8,  1644.  On  Uth  January,  1645-6,  Gorton  dates  his  book  at  Lon- 
dDn.  I  infer  that  he  left  during  the  winter  of  1644-5.  Perhaps  Brown's 
r.si    at  Aquedneck  hastened  his  departure. 

'  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  128.  ^  Winthrop,  ii.  252. 


192  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   that  arose  on  the  question  between  Massachusetts  and 

Plymouth  was  decided  by  the  Commissioners  in  favor  of 

16  4  5.  the  former,  the  Parliament  had  already  ordered  its  resto- 
ration to  the  lawful  purchasers.  Similar  annoyances  con- 
tinued for  many  years,  summons  being  often  issued  to  re- 
quire the  attendance  of  parties  at  the  Massachusetts 
Courts,  upon  the  suit  of  her  subjects  resident  in  Rhode 
Island. 

The  efforts  of  Massachusetts"  to  extend  her  jurisdic- 
tion in  this  direction  seemed  to  receive  a  fresh  impetus  by 
the  arrival  of  that  charter  which  was  designed  as  a  shield  to 
the  feeble  colonists  of  Rhode  Island  against  her  all-grasp- 
ing ambition.  The  coveted  shores  of  the  Narrao-anset 
assumed  a  new  importance  in  her  eyes  when  the  action 
of  Parliament  placed  them  beyond  her  reach.  Every  ef- 
fort was  made  to  attach  to  herself  any  residents  of  Rhode 
Island  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  existing  order  of 
things,  and  thus  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discontent  more 
widely  in  the  heretical  plantations.  The  insane  idea  was 
cherished  by  her  rulers  and  inculcated  upon  the  other 
colcmies,  that  in  this  way  the  people  of  Rhode  Island 
might  be  led  to  question  the  validity  of  their  charter,  and 
be  discouraged  from  organizing  their  distracted  settle- 
ments into  one  corporate  body  under  its  provisions.  Ply- 
mouth, we  have  already  seen,  was  led  to  claim  the  east- 
ern shore  and  the  island,  and  Connecticut  was  ere  long  to 
assert  her  right  to  the  Narraganset  country,  while  Provi- 
dence and  Warwick  were  apportioned  to  the  fomenters  of 
this  tripartite  division.  As  we  examine  the  progress  of 
this  deep-laid  scheme,  and  observe  the  steadiness  with 
which  it  was  pursued  through  a  long  series  of  years,  we 
cannot  but  admire  the  firmness  of  our  ancestors  in  foiling 
it  at  every  turn,  nor  can  we  fail  to  recognize  the  hand  of 
a  Superior  Power  in  preserving  a  colony  whose  peculiar 
principles  at  first  made  it  an  object  of  aA'^ersion,  and  finally 
were  adopted  as  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  a  whole  nation 


RESULT  OF  Gorton's  mission.  193 

The  result  of  Gorton's  mission,  so  far  as  falls  within  chap. 
the  limits  of  our  present  chapter,  was  briefly  this.     The   ..2^:^ 
Commissioners  issued  an  order  requiring  Massachusetts  to  164  0, 
reinstate  the  proscribed  parties,  and  forbidding  any  at-      i'^^ 
tempt  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  them.     It  was  brought 
over  by  Holden  in  a  ship  to  Boston.     With  some  difficulty    ^^pt. 
he  was  allowed  to  land.     Many  wished  to  commit  him  to 
jail,  but  better  counsel  prevailed,  and  he  was  permitted 
to  pass  quietly  through  to  Rhode  Island,  by  virtue  of  the 
protection  given  him  by  Parliament.     Uj)on   receipt  of     Nov. 
this  order  the  Greneral  Court  seriously  debated  how  far 
they  owed   allegiance  to  England,  but  wisely  concluded, 
on  advice  of  the  elders,  that  they  were  not  yet  independ- 
ent.'    They  decided   to   send  Mr.   Edward  Winslow  to 
Eno-land  as  their  agent.     An  answer  to  Gorton's   memo- 
rial,  a  copy  of  which  had  been  enclosed  in  the  aforemen- 
tioned order,  was  prepared,  which  Winslow,  being  duly     Dec. 
commissioned,  carried,  together  with   two  sets  of  instruc- 
tions, one  public,  in  accordance  with  his  commission,  the 
other  secret,  concerning  the  course  he  was  to  adopt  and 
the  answers  he  was  to  make  to  the  objections  against  the 
conduct  and  government  of  Massachusetts,  contained  in 
the  Commissioners'  order.^     The  controversy  in  regard  to 
the  lands  of  Warwick,  so  named  by  Gorton  in  compliment 
to  the  Earl  through  whose  influence  his  mission  was  suc- 
cessful, was  prolonged  for  thirty-five  years.     It  soon  be- 
came involved  in  the  greater  dispute  relating  to  the  adja- 
cent territory  of  Narraganset,  which  wiU  be  considered  in 
future  chapters.     The  first  decision,  above  given,  was  final 

1  This  rather  remarkable  discussion  is  given  at  length  by  Winthrop,  ii. 
278-284.  It  shows  the  temper  of  the  times,  and  demonstrates  more  clearly 
than  any  other  proceedings  since  those  of  1 635,  when  a  general  governor  was 
expected  from  England.  (VVinth.  Jour,  i.  154,  and  ante  chap.  i.  pp.  32-3,) 
the  feeling  with  which  the  Puritans  viewed  any  act  of  the  home  government 
that  threatened  to  abridge  their  virtual  independence. 

^  Copies  of  all  these  papers  are  given  m  Winthrop,  ii.  295-301,  and  of  th« 
most  important  ones  in  R.  I  Col.  Rec's.  i.  367-373. 

VOL.  I. — 13 


194  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   in  its   effect,  although,  after  hearing  Mr.   Winslow,  the 
.^,,.:^  committee  wrote  to  Massachusetts  that  if  the  Shawomet 
16  47.  lands  were  in  their  patent,  or  in  that  of  Plymouth,  the 
25;     case  would   be  altered  ;  hut  they  soon  afterwards  wrote 
Ji'ly    to  all  the  colonies  that  the  Warwick  men  should  be  as- 
sisted and  not  molested  during  the   examination  of  the 
question  at  issue. '     The  purchasers  of  Shawomet  returned 
to  their  homes,  and  successfully  withstood  the  pertinacious 
efforts  of  Massachusetts  to  retain  her  unlawful  dominion 
over  them.  -    ,  ' 

The  Warwick  men  were  strict  constructionists  of  the 
most  rigid  school.  They  neither  recognized  the  existing 
governments  of  Providence  and  Aquedneck,  as  we  have 
seen,  nor  did  they  establish  any  of  their  own  ;  not,  as 
their  enemies  rejDresented,  because  they  were  opposed  to 
all  magistracy,  but  because,  as  English  subjects,  they 
could  not  lawfully  create  or  submit  to  any  government 
that  was  not  authorized  by  patent  from  the  Crown  or 
Parliament  of  England.  Hence  w^e  have  no  record  of 
*'^y-  their  proceedings  until  after  the  organization  of  the  colo- 
nial government.  They  were  few  in  number,  so  that  the 
mode  -  of  settling  difficulties,  by  arbitration,  adopted  by 
them  before  their  expulsion,  was  probably  continued  till 
their  scruples  were  removed  by  the  adoption  of  the  char- 
ter. After  this  took  place  their  rigid  adherence  to  all  the 
forms  of  law,  as  well  as  to  its  spirit,  was  no  less  remarka- 
ble than  had  been  their  previous  neglect.  The  charter 
supplied  their  theoretical  wants,  and  devotion  to  its  letter 
and  spirit  marked  all  their  subsequent  conduct.'^ 

'  Both  these  letters  are  in  Staples'  Gorton.  R.  I.  H.  C.-ii.  203-6, 
"  One  or  two  examples  of  this  may  here  be  mentioned.  For  many  years 
their  numbers  were  few,  and  some  of  the  requirements  of  the  common  law 
bore  heavily  upon  them,  especially  that  requiring  twelve  men  to  constitute  a 
jury.  Accordingly  we  find  them  altering  that  provision  to  conform,  in  the 
language  of  the  charter,  "  to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  place,"  in 
these  words  :  '  Whereas  the  townsmen  of  Warwick  having  taken  into  con- 
uderation  that  it  cannot  stand  with  the  constitution  of  the  place  to  continue 


1641. 


SETTLEMENT    OF    NORTH   KINGSTON.  195 

The  act  of  submission  arrayed  the  Narragansets  in  chap 
hostility  to  the  pretensions  of  Massachusetts,  and  virtu-   ^^,^.^,1^ 
ally  annexed  their  country  to  the  State  of  Khode  Island,   16  44. 
of  which,  thereafter,  it  formed  an  important  part.     Three 
years  prior  to  this  Kichard  Smith  had  purchased  land  and 
erected  a  trading  house,  in  what  is  now  North  Kingston,^ 
in  the  midst  of  the   Indian  country,  which  was  the  only 
settlement  south  of  Warwick  until  after  the  charter  went 
into  operation,  when  Roger  Williams  set  up  a  similar  es- 
tablishment for  a  few  years  and  sold  out  to  Smith,  upon 
his  second  appointment  as  agent  to  England."^ 

Both  English  and  Indians  were  now  the  acknowledged  ^  "*^ 
subjects  of  Grreat  Britain,  and  the  haughty  spirit  of  the 

twelve  men  for  the  tryal  of  causes,  It  is  therefore  ordered  that  there  he  estab- 
lished six  jurors  for  the  trial  of  causes,  and  to  have  six  pence  a  man  for  each 
cause,  and  for  counsellor's  fees  three  shillings  and  four  pence,  and  this  to  be 
of  force  notwithstauding  any  law  formerly  to  the  contrary."  Warwick  Rec- 
ords of  Feb.  5,  1656,7.  This  change  might  appear  as  a  violation  of  law  in- 
stead of  a  real  conformity  to  its  spirit,  if  the  preamble  were  not  recited  and 
their  circumstances  were  not  considered. 

Bat  still  later  we  have  a  more  striking  instance  of  their  attachment  to 
"  law  and  order.''  At  a  tovra  meeting,  Oct.  12,  1663,  we  find  it  ''  Ordered  in 
regard  that  there  is  a  writing  directed  to  the  warden  or  deputy  warden  of  the 
town  of  Warwick,  bearing  date  the  23  September,  1663,  and  subscribed 
James  (I.  R.)  Rodgers,  and  not  the  title  of  any  office  annexed  thereto  ;  the 
Town  do  therefore  protest  against  it  as  being  contrary  to  law  and  order,  and 
that  report  be  made  hereof  to  the  next  Court  of  Commissioners.  It  is  fur- 
ther ordered  that  the  town  being  sensible  of  matters  that  do  depend,  which 
concern  our  agent,  Mr.  John  Clarke,  do  therefore  conclude  to  choose  com- 
missioners to  attend  the  Court  notwithstanding  illegality  of  the  sayd  writing, 
and  that  justice  may  proceed  nutwithstanding  the  sayd  neglect  do  likewise 
order  to  choose  jurj-men  to  attend  the  Court  of  Trials."  See  Warwick  Rec- 
ords of  that  date.  Rogers  was  General  Sergeant  of  the  colony,  and  should 
have  affixed  the  title  of  his  office  to  his  name  in  an  official  communication. 

'  On  the  site  of  the  present  (1835)  Updike  house,  which  is  said  to  be 
built,  partly,  of  the  materials  of  Smith's.  Potter's  Early  Hist,  of  Narragan- 
set,  R.  I.  H.  C.  iii.  32. 

"^  M.  H.  C.  i.  211.  The  precedence  of  Smith  was  denied  by  Howlden  and 
Greene  in  their  sketch  of  Narraganset,  in  1680.  They  say  Warwick  was  set- 
tled first,  and  that  Williams  preceded  Smith,  but  the  evidence  is  all  the  other 
way,  and  their  error  perhaps  arose  from  there  being  two  Richard  Smiths,  father 
and  son,  in  the  concern.     Br.  S.  P.  0.  New  England  Papers,  voL  iii.  p.  81. 


196  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP    native   chiefs    refused    to    account  for  their    conduct  to 
s.^,-^  any  but  their  common  Master.     A  summons  was  received 
16  44.  from  Massachusetts  for  them  to  attend  at  the  next  Court, 
24"'^     They  declined  to  do  so,  and  informed  the  government  of 
their  submission  to  King  Charles,  and  of  their  intention 
to  make  war  on  Uncas.     This  letter,  with  one  of  like  pur- 
port from   Gorton,   gave   great   anxiety  to  the    General 
~^?^     Court.     Two  messengers  were  sent  to  the  Narragansets 
to  counteract  the  influence  of  Gorton,  and  to  dissuade 
them  from  their  purpose.     They  were  coldly  received  and 
failed  in  their  mission.     Pumham  and  Soconoco,  -dreading 
the  anger  of  the  Narragansets,  applied  to  Massachusetts 
for  a  guard.     An  officer  was  sent  with   ten   soldiers  to 
build  a  fort,  and  to  remain  for  their  protection  till  the 
Jnly     danger  was  passed.     Although  the  Commissioners  of  the 
^'      United  Colonies  prevented  immediate  war  between  the 
Sept.    iiostile  tribes,  they  could  only  avert  it  for  a  while.     In  a 

164:4-5.  few  months  the  Narrag-ansets  sent  messengers  to  Boston, 
Feb. 

declaring  that  unless  Uncas  should  pay  a  hundred  and 

sixty  fathoms  of  wampum,  or  come  to  a  new  hearing  of 
the  case  within   six  weeks,  they  would  make  war  upon 
him.' 
1  g  4  5  In"  the  spring  the  long  restrained  wrath  of  the  Narra- 

gansets vented  itself  upon  the  Mohegans.  One  thousand 
men,  some  of  whom  were  armed  with  guns,  attacked  Un- 
cas and  defeated  him  with  considerable  slaughter.  Con- 
necticut and  New  Haven  sent  troops  to  protect  Uncas. 
The  General  Court  despatched  a  letter  to  the  Narragan- 
I'g  ^  sets  requiring  them  to  desist  from  war,  and  soon  after  sent 
Benedict  Arnold  as  a  messenger  to  them.  The  Indians 
afterward  stated  that  he  had  misrepresented  their  answer, 
and  sent  for  Roger  WiUiams  to  assist  them  in  their  trou- 
bles. A  special  meeting  of  the  New  England  Commis- 
^"  y    sioners  was  held  in  this  emergency,  and  messengers  ^  were 


28. 


*  Hubbard's  New  England,  cli.  li. 

'  Sergeant  John  Davis,  Benedict  Arnold  and  Francis  Smyth. 


FORCED    TREATY    WITH    THE    NARRAGANSETS.  197 

sent  a  second  time  to  require  both  the  hostile  tribes  to  send  chap. 
deputies  to  Boston,  who  should  explain  the  cause  of  the  war,   ^^ 
receive  satisfaction,  and  make  peace.     This  attempt  failed.    i6  4ro. 
The   embassy  was  haughtily  treated  by  the  Narragansets, 
who  were  resolved  to  have  the  head  of  Uncas.     On  their 
return  they  brought  a  letter  from  Mr.  Williams,  stating 
that  terms  of  neutrality  had  been  made  by  the  Indians 
with  the  colonies  of  Rhode  Island,  and  that  war  was  in- 
evitable,'     The   United   Colonies  at  once   declared  war    ^112. 
against  the  Narragansets,  and  a  force  of  three  hundred      19- 
men,   under   command  of  Major   Edward   Gribbons,  was 
raised. 2     Forty  mounted  men  were  impressed  by  Massa- 
chusetts within  three  days,  and  sent  on  in  advance  under 
Lieut.  Atherton.     Messengers  ^   were   also  sent  to  carry 
back  a  present  that  the  Indians  had  lately  sent  as  a  peace 
offering  to  the  English.     The  Narragansets,  alarmed  at 
these  active  demonstrations,  sued  for  peace.     Through  the 
mediation  of  Williams,  to  whose  influence,  now  for  the 
second  time  within  eight  years,  New  England  owed  her 
l)eace  and  safety,  Pessicus,  with  two  other  principal  sa- 
chems, and  a  large  train  of  attendants,  came  to  Boston. 
A  treaty  was  concluded  which  bore  heavily  upon  the  Nar- 
ragansets.    They  were  to  pay  two  thousand  fathoms  of      ^'^• 
wampum  in  four  equal  instalments,  the  last  at  the  end  of 
two  years.     Captives  and  canoes  were  to  l)e  mutually  re- 
stored by  them  and  the  Mohegans,  and  the  disputes  be- 
tween  them  were   to  be   settled  by  the   Commissioners. 
They  were  to  give  up  all  right  to  the  Pequot  country, 

'  Hubbard's -Xew  England,  ch.  li.  and  Trumbull's  Connecticut,  i.  150-4. 

'^  The  declaration  of  war  contains  a  summary  of  previous  occurrences 
•with  the  Indians,  signed  by  John  Winthrop,  President,  and  is  given  at  length 
by  Hubbard,  ch.  li.  and  in  2  M.  H.  C.  vi.  454-62. 

'  Capt.  Harding,  Mr.  Wilbore  and  Benedict  Arnold — the  latter  as  inter- 
jireter,  but  he  could  not  be  found  in  Providence,  and  dared  no  longer  to  ven- 
ture among  the  Indians,  who  charged  him  with  misrepresenting  their  reply 
two  months  previous.  Roger  Williams,  whose  influence  was  paramount  with 
the  Indians,  acted  as  interpreter  on  this  occasion  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
messengers.     (Knowles,  204.) 


1G4' 


198  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

which  they  had  aided  the  English  in  conquering.  Other 
hard  terms  were  enforced,  and  hostages  were  required  of 
16  45.  them.  Sadly  they  signed  this  compulsory  and  oppressive 
treaty,  and  sullenly  they  retired  to  their  native  fastnesses 
to  brood  over  the  wrongs  thus  newly  inflicted.  The  se- 
vere exaction  almost  ruined  them.  The  following  spring 
they  failed  to  send  the  tribute,  and  when  a  small-  part 
June  only  was  sent  the  Commissioners  refused  to  receive  it  un- 
less they  could  have  the  whole  that  was  due. 

The  remainder  of  this  painful  story,  although  it  car- 
ries us  beyond  the  limit  assigned  to  this  chapter,  is  better 
told  here.  The  next  year  an  extra  meeting  of  the  New 
England  Commissioners  was  called  on  account  of  the  fail- 
ure of  the  Narragansets  to  fulfil  the  treaty,  and  of  their 
alleged  attempts  to  allure  the  Mohawks  to  unite  in  a  war 
against  the  Enolish.  A  threatenino;  letter  was  sent  to 
Pessicus  requiring  his  appearance  at  Boston.  He  excused 
his  attendance  on  the  plea  of  sickness,  declared  that  he 
had  been  forced  by  fear  to  accept  the  treaty,  and  prom- 
ised to  send  Ninigret,  sachem  of  the  subordinate  tribe  of 
Nianticks,  to  Boston,  and  to  abide  by  any  agreement  he 
.  ^^^  should  .make.  When  Ninigret  came  before  the  Commis- 
3.  sioners  he  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  treaty,  or  of  any 
reason  why  the  Narragansets  should  pay  tribute  to  the 
English,  to  whom  they  owed  nothing.  The  case  being 
explained  to  him,  he  desired  ten  days  to  send  borne  for 
the  wampum,  while  he  remained  as  a  hostage.  His  mes- 
senger brought  back  but  two  hundred  fathoms,  which 
Ninigret  attributed  to  his  absence.  It  was  finally  agreed 
that  he  should  pay  a  thousand  fathoms  within  twenty 
days,  and  the  rest  by  the  next  spring,  upon  which  condi- 
tion he  was  dismissed. 

The  wampum  was  not  paid.  Why  should  it  be  1 
When  we  consider  the  foul  death  of  their  almost  idolized 
chieftain,  to  avenge  which — not  upon  the  English,  its  real 
authors,  but  upon  Uncas,  their  ruthless  tool — they  had 


EXPEDITION    OF     ATHEETON.  199 

hegini  a  war  after  due  notice  given,  as  agreed,   to  the   chap. 
EngilJi,  wheat  first  gave  their  consent  ;  and  that  then  the   .^^..^.1^ 
Eii*riit*h  had  marched  an  army  against  them,  and  by  ter-  16  47. 
r.jr  liad  forced  them  to  a  treaty  of  which  the  avowed  ob- 
ject was  to  disable  them,  we   cannot  blame   Pessicus  for 
disavowing,  or  Ninig-ret  for  ignorino;  it,  or  either  for  neg- 
lecting  to  comply  with  its  provisions.     Again  messengers 
were  sent  to  the  Narragansets  without  effect.     Rumors  of  j^-j^g 
an  Indirin  alliance   continued  to  alarm  the  colonists,  who 
persisted   in  identifying  the  cause  of  Uncas  with  their 
own,  and  in  considering  any  attempt  of  the  Narragansets  16  4  9. 
to  avenge  their  wrongs  upon  the  Mohegans  as  a  conspiracy 
against  themselves.     An  abortive  attempt  was  made  to 
assassinate  Uncas.    Another  special  meeting  of  the  United     j  , 
Colonies  was  called  upon  this  occasion,  and  Ninigret  again      23. 
appeared  to  excuse  his  breach  of  faith,  and  to  defend  the 
recent  attack  upon  the  mortal  foe  of  his  tribe.     The  pa- 
tience of  the  English  was  exhausted  in  this  last  fruitless 
effort  to  obtain  the  tribute.     The  next  year  the  Commis- 
sioners sent  Capt.  Atherton  with  twenty  men  to  collect 
it.     Pessicus  tried  in  vain  to  avoid  an  interview  while  he 
assembled  his  warriors.     Seeing  this,  Atherton  forced  his    gept. 
way,  pistol  in  hand,  into  the  wigwam,  and  seizing  the  sa-       5. 
chem  by  the  hair,  dragged  him  from  the  midst  of  his  at- 
tendants, threatening  instant  death  if  any  resistance  was 
offered.       This    summary  conduct,   wliich   reflects    more 
credit  on  the  courage  of  the  Captain,  than  on  the  justice 
or  the  policy  of  his  government,  produced  the  desired  re- 
sult.    The  debt  was  paid.     The  troopers  departed,  leav- 
ing behind   them,  in  Indian  memory,  one  more  act  of 
wrong  and  insult  to  ranlde  till  the  day  of  retribution. 
From  the  murder  of  Miantinomi,  down  to  the  savage  ex- 
pedition of  Atherton,  the  whole  seven  years  is  filled  with 
acts  of  aggression  and  of  unjust  interference  on  one  side, 
and  with  the  haughty  protests  of  an  injured,  a  high-spir- 
ited, and  a  feebler  race  oi  Indians  on  the  other. 


SLOO  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLANT 


164' 


CHAPTEK    VII. 

164T— lfi51. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  INCORPORATION  OF  PROVIDENCE  PLANTA- 
TIONS  FROM  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  PARLIAMENTARY  CHAR- 
TER, MAY,  1647,  TO  THE  USURPATION  OF  CODDINGTON,  AU- 
GUST, 1651. 

"  The  Incorporation  of  Providence  Plantations  in  the 
VII. '  Narraganset  Bay  in  New  England,"  was  the  legal  title 
under  which  the  several  settlements  in  Rhode  Island  were 
united  by  the  terms  of  the  patent.  The  origin  of  this 
charter  wo  have  already  noticed.  Its  peculiar  character 
deserves  attention.  It  was  very  general  in  its  provisions, 
and  conferred  absolute  independence  on  the  colony.  The 
single  proviso  with  which  it  was  fettered,  to  wit  that  "  the 
laws,  constitutions  and  punishments,  for  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  the  said  plantation,  be  conformable  to  the  laws 
of  England,"  was  practically  annulled  in  the  same  sen- 
tence by  the  subjoined  words,  "  so  far  as  the  nature  and 
constitution  of  that  place  will  admit."  Thus  the  people 
were  left  free  to  enact  their  own  laws,  for  this  qualifying 
clause  in  effect  defeated  the  proviso.  No  charter  had  ever 
oeen  granted  up  to  that  time  which  conferred  so  ample 
powers  upon  a  community,  and  but  one  as  free  has  ever 
emanated  since  from  the  throne  of  a  monarch. 

The  other  remarkable  feature  in  this  instrument  con- 
sists, not  in  what  it  specified,  but  in  what  it  omitted. 
The  use  of  the  word  "  civd,"  everywhere  prefixed  to  the 


ORGANIZATION    UNDER    THE    FIRST    PATENT.  201 

terms  "  government  "  or  "  laws/'  wherever  they  occur  in  chap 
the  patent,  served  to  restrict  the  operation  of  the  charter   v_^^ 
to  purely  political  concerns.     In  this  apparent  restriction   1647. 
there  lay  concealed  a  boon  of  freedom,  such  as  man  had 
never  known  before.     A  grant  so  great  no  language  could 
convey,  for  the  very  use  of  words  would  imply  the  power 
to  grant,  and  hence  the  co-ordinate    power  to  refuse. 
Here  was  the  essence  of  the  Rhode  Island  doctrine.    They 
held  themselves  accountable  to  God  alone  for  their  relig- 
ious creed,  and  no  earthly  power  could  bestow  on  them  a 
right  they  held  from  Heaven.     Hence  the  expressive  si- 
lence of  the  charter  on  the  subject  of  religious  freedom. 
At  their  own  request   their   powers  were  limited  to  civil 
matters.      Beyond  this   a   silence  more  significant   than 
language  proclaimed  the  triumph  of  soul-liberty. 

More  than  three  years  had  elapsed  since  the  patent 
was  obtained,  and  for  thirty-two  months,  since  its  recep- 
tion, it  had  served  only  as  an  apology  for  the  self-consti- 
tuted governments  of  the  several  towns.  The  higher  ob- 
ject for  which  it  was  designed  could  no  longer  be  kept  in 
abeyance.  The  necessity  of  union  was  daily  becoming 
more  apparent.  So  long  as  distinct  organizations  were 
maintained,  a  color  of  plausibility  was  given  to  the  con- 
stant efforts  of  the  neighboring  colonies  to  impair  its  va- 
lidity. The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  consolidation  were 
at  length  overcome.  A  General  Assembly  of  the  people 
was  held  at  Portsmouth.  Providence  sent  ten  delegates  May 
to  act  for  her.  The  records  of  Portsmouth  and  Newport  19-21- 
do  not  show  that  any  were  chosen  from  those  towns,  al- 
though it  is  probable  that  this  was  done.  Warwick  was 
not  named  in  the  charter,  and  her  records  do  not  begin 
till  after  this  Assembly,  but  she  was  admitted  to  the  same 
privileges  with  the  rest  at  the  opening  of  the  session. 

This  first  General  Assembly  was  in  fact  a  meeting  of 
the  Corporators  formally  to  adopt  the  charter,  and  then 
to  organize  a  government  under  it.     It  was  not  simply  a 


202  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  convention  of  delegates  but  of  the  whole  people.  A  ma* 
^__^  jority  being  j)resent  their  acts  were  binding  upon  the  whole, 
16  47.  as  is  expressed  in  the  opening  of  the  Assembly,  when, 
J9.21.  having  first  chosen  Mr.  John  Coggeshall,  Moderator.  "  It 
was  voted  and  found,  that  the  major  part  of  the  colony 
wei'e  present  at  this  Assembly,  whereby  was  full  power  to 
transact."  The  next  step  was  to  provide  against  the 
withdrawal  of  so  great  a  number  as  to  defeat  the  object 
of  the  meeting  by  putting  a  stoj)  to  legislation.  For  this 
purpose  the  number  of  forty  was  agreed  upon,  who,  in  case 
the  rest  should  depart,  were  required  to  remain  "  and  act 
as  if  the  whole  were  present,  and  be  of  as  full  authori- 
ty." In  the  establishment  of  this  compulsory  quorum 
we  see  the  germ  of  the  representative  system,  which  the 
increasing  number  of  the  colonists  now  rendered  necessa- 
ry. The  Assembly  being  thus  organized,  and  the  initia- 
tory steps  taken  to  secure  its  permanence  and  authority, 
"  It  was  agreed  that  all  should  set  their  hands  to  an  en- 
gagement to  the  charter."  The  engagement  is  embodied 
in  the  pr.eamble  to  the  code  of  laws  adopted  at  this  time, 
and  hence  has  no  signatures.  This  was  a  safer  course  to 
pursue,  as  the  other  might  imjjly  that  those  only  were 
bound  by  the  charter  who  had  given  in  their  written  con- 
sent. The  Assembly  then  adopted  the  representative 
system,  by  ordering  that  ''  a  week  before  any  General 
Court,  notice  should  be  given  to  every  town  by  the  head 
officer,  that  they  choose  a  committee  for  the  transaction 
of  the  affairs  there,"  and  they  also  provide  for  a  proxy 
vote  in  the  words  "  and  such  as  go  not  may  send  their 
votes  sealed."  After  unanimously  adopting  a  code  of 
laws,  which  had  been  prepared  previous  to  the  meeting, 
for  the  government  of  the  colony,  they  proceeded  to  elect 
by  ballot  the  general  officers,  to  continue  for  one  year,  or 
till  new  be  chosen. 

John  Coggeshall  was  chosen  President  of  the  Province 
or  Colony,  with  one  Assistant  from  each  town,  viz.  :  Roger 


MODE    OF    PASSING    GENERAL    LAWS.  203 

Williams  of  Providence,  John  Sandford  of  Portsmouth,  chap 
William  Coddington  of  Newport,  and  Kandal  Holden  of  ^^ 
Warwick.  William  Dyer  was  chosen  General  Recorder,  164  7. 
and  Jeremy  Clarke,  Treasurer.  iy-2i. 

The  mode  of  passing  general  laws  was  then  prescribed, 
and  deserves  attention  for  the  care  with  which  it  provides 
for  obtaining  a  free  expression  of  the  opinions  of  the  whole 
people.  All  laws  were  to  be  first  discussed  in  the  towns. 
The  town  first  proposing  it  was  to  agitate  the  question  in 
town  meeting  and  conclude  by  vote.  The  town  clerk  was 
to  send  a  copy  of  what  was  agreed  on  to  the  other  three 
towns,  who  were  likewise  to  discuss  it  and  take  a  vote  in 
town  meeting.  They  then  handed  it  over  to  a  commit- 
tee of  six  men  from  each  town,  freely  chosen,  which  com- 
mittees constituted  "  the  General  Court,"  who  were  to 
assemble  at  a  call  for  the  purpose,  and,  if  they  found  the 
majority  of  the  colony  concurred  in  the  case,  it  was  to 
stand  as  a  law  "  till  the  next  General  Assembly  of  all  the 
people,"  who  were  finally  to  decide  whether  it  should  con- 
tinue as  law  or  not.  Thus  the  laws  emanated  directly 
from  the  people.  The  General  Court  had  no  power  of  re- 
vision over  cases  already  presented,  but  simply  the  duty 
of  promulgating  the  laws  with  which  the  towns  had  in- 
trusted them.  The  right  to  originate  legislation  was, 
however,  vested  in  them  to  be  carried  out  in  this  way. 
When  the  Court  had  disposed  of  the  matters  for  which 
It  was  called,  should  any  case  be  presented  upon  which 
the  public  good  seemed  to  require  their  action,  they  were 
to  debate  and  decide  upon  it.  Then  each  committee,  on 
returning  to  their  town,  was  to  report  the  decision,  which 
was  to  be  debated  and  voted  upon  in  each  town  ;  the 
v^otes  to  be  sealed  and  sent  by  each  town  clerk  to  the 
General  Eecorder,  who,  in  presence  of  the  President,  was 
to  count  the  votes.  If  a  majority  were  found  to  have 
adopted  the  law,  it  was  to  stand  as  such  till  the  next 
General  Assembly  should  confirm  or  repeal  it.     Thejeal- 


204  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   INLAND. 

CHAP,  ousy  with  which  the  people  maintained  their  rights,  and 
^^  the  checks  thus  put  upon  themselves  in  the  exercise  of  the 
16  4  7.  law-making  power,  as  displayed  in  this  preliminaiy  act, 
19-21  present  most  forcibly  the  union  of  the  two  elements  of 
liberty  and  law  in  the  Ehode  Island  mind. 

The  "  Court  of  Election  "  was  appointed  for  '*  the  first 
Tuesday  after  the  fifteenth  of  May,  annually,  if  wind  and 
weather  hinder  not  ;  then  the  General  Court  of  trials  im- 
mediately to  succeed.''  The  manner  and  time  of  organ- 
izing monthly  and  quarterly  Courts,  was  left-to  the  town 
councils  of  Newport  and  Portsmouth  to  arrange  within 
thirty  days.  From  them  had  emanated  the  code  of  laws, 
and  to  them  it  was  intrusted  to  perfect  the  means  of  en- 
forcing that  code.  Acts  were  passed  regulating  the  pow- 
ers of  the  towns  in  specific  cases,  and  requiring  that  six 
men,  to  compose  a  town  council,  should  be  chosen  by  each 
town  at  its  next  meeting.  "  The  sea  laws,  otherwise 
called  Laws  of  Oleron,"  were  adopted  "  for  the  benefit  of 
seamen  upon  the  island,"  and  two  water  bailies  '  were 
chosen  for  the  colony.  An  anchor  was  adopted  as  the 
seal  of  the  Province.  Reciprocal  duties  with  foreign  na- 
tions, upon  all  imported  goods,  except  beaver,  were  estab- 
lished, and  they  were  prohibited  from  trade  with  the  In- 
dians. A  military  system,  very  like  the  one  adopted 
seven  years  before  at  Aquedneck,  was  ordered.^  No  arms 
or  ammunition  were  to  be  sold  to  the  Indians  under  a 
heavy  penalty.  The  remoter  settlements  were  apportioned 
among  the  towns.  Newport  was  to  have  the  trading  posts 
in  the  Narraganset  country  ;  Portsmouth,  the  island  of 
Prudence,  and  the  people  of  Pawtuxet  were  allowed  their 
choice  to  belong  to  Providence,  Portsmouth  or  Newport, 
A  letter  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  them  to  make  their  se- 
lection, and  another  to  Massachusetts  respecting  her  claim 
to  jurisdiction  over  them.^     A  form  of  engagement  for  the 

'  John  Cooke  and  Thomas  Brownell.  ''  Ante,  chap.  v.  p.  145. 

^  These  letters  cannot  be  found  on  the  records  of  Massachusetts  or  Rhode 
Island. 


RECIPROCAL  ENGAGEMENT  OF  THE  STATE  TO  ITS  OFFICERS.       205 

officers  was  adopted,  and  what  in  our  day  seems  curious,  chap 
but  is  not  the  less  just,  a  form  for  "  The  reciprocal  en-  _^_ 
gasement  of  the  State  to  the  officers"  was  agreed  upon  16  47. 
as  tollows  : —  19-21. 

"  We  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  of  Providence 
Plantations,  being  here  orderly  met,  and  having,  by  free 

vote  chosen  you to  public  office,  as  officers  for  the 

due  administration  of  justice  and  the  execution  thereof, 
throughout  the  whole  Colony,  do  hereby  engage  ourselves, 
to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  to  support  and  uphold  you  in 
your  faithful  performance  thereof."  The  clerk  of  the  As- 
sembly represented  the  State  in  giving  and  receiving  these 
engagements. 

A  tax  of  one  hundred  pounds  was  levied,  as  a  free  gift 
to  Mr.  Koger  Williams,  for  his  labor  in  obtaining  the  char- 
ter. Of  this  Newport  was  to  pay  one-half,  Portsmouth 
thirty,  and  Providence  twenty  pounds.  By  this  appor- 
tionment it  appears  that  Newport  had  rapidly  advanced 
in  wealth.  Although  the  latest  settled,  she  was  already 
equal  to  the  two  older  towns,  and  the  island  embraced 
four-fifths  of  the  strength  of  the  Province.  Warwick  was 
too  weak  as  yet  to  bear  any  part  of  the  burden. 

The  preamble  and  bill  of  rights,  prefixed  to  the  code 
of  civil  and  criminal  law  adopted  at  this  time,  is  a  re- 
markable production.  Brief,  simple  and  comprehensive, 
the  preamble  asserts  in  a  few  words  the  two  cardinal  doc- 
trines of  the  founders  of  Rhode  Island.  It  declares  "  that 
the  form  of  government  established  in  Providence  Plan- 
tations is  Democratical,  that  is  to  say,  a  government  held 
by  the  free  and  voluntary  consent  of  all,  or  the  greater 
part,  of  the  free  inhabitants."  This  position  was  no  less 
novel  and  startling  to  the  statesmen  of  that  day,  than 
was  the  idea  of  religious  freedom,  which,  in  the  next  enact- 
ing clause,  it  carefully  guards.  Both  of  these  principles 
were  exclusively  Rhode  Island  doctrines,  and  to  her  be- 
longs the  credit  of  them  both.     Tliis  first  General  Assem- 


206  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  bly  aimed  to  adopt  a  code  that  should  secure  each  of  these 
.^^.^^^  objects,  and  thus  be  "  suitable  to  the  nature  and  consti-- 
1647.  tution  of  the  place/'     They  succeeded  ;  and  we  hazard 
19-2L    little  in  saying  that  the  digest  of  1647,  for  simplicity  of 
diction,  unencumbered  as  it  is  by  the  superfluous  verbiage 
that  clothes  our  modern  statutes  in  learned  obscurity  ;  for 
breadth  of  comprehension,  embracing  as  it  does  the  foun- 
dation of  the  whole  body  of  law,  on  every  subject,  which 
has  since  been  adopted  ;  and  for  vigor  and  originalfty  of 
thought,  and  boldness  of  expression,  as  weU  &&  for  the 
vast  significance  and  the  brilliant  triumph  of  the  princi- 
ples it  embodies,  presents  a  model  of  legislation  which  has 
never  been  surpassed. 

The  bill  of  rights  embraces  in  concise  terms,  under 
four  distinct  heads,  the  fundamental  principles  of  all  our 
subsequent  legislation.  In  the  first  it  re-enacts  a  clause 
of  Magna  Charta  guaranteeing  the  liberty  and  property 
of  the  person,  and  guards  against  constructive  felonies, 
which  at  that  time  were  sapping  the  foundations  of  Eng- 
lish liberty,  by  restricting  criminal  suits  to  violations  of 
the  letter  of  the  law.  In  the  second  it  prevents  the  as- 
sumption or  the  abuse  of  delegated  power,  by  forbidding 
any  to  hold  office  who  are  not  lawfully  called  to  it,  and  re- 
quiring those  who  are,  to  perform  neither  more  nor  less 
than  their  proper  duties.  These  two  heads  secure  the 
rights  of  individuals  against  the  government.  The  third 
protects  the  right  of  minorities  against  the  majority,  by 
restricting  the  legislative  power  of  the  Assembly  to  laws 
"  founded  upon  the  charter,  and  rightly  derived  from  the 
General  Assembly,  lawfully  met  and  orderly  managed." 
The  last  section  requires  that  adequate  compensation  be 
paid  to  all  officers,  that  every  man  should  serve  when 
elected  or  submit  to  a  fine,  and  that  "  in  case  of  imminent 
danger  no  man  shall  refuse."  In  conclusion  they  proceed 
to  adopt  generally  the  common  law  of  England,  with  the 
reiterated  restriction  that  they  enact  only  "  such  of  them 


RIGHTS    AND    CODE    OF    LAWS.  207 

and  SO  far,  ab  the  nature  and  constitution  of  our  place  chap. 
will  admit."  lT].«on  this  all-important  saving  clause  in  ..^^^.^ 
the  charter  they  i-iid  great  stress.  It  was  their  guarantee  16  4  7. 
and  shield  of  independence.  Under  their  patent  they  19.21. 
claimed  tliat  they  could  do  as  they  pleased,  so  long  as 
they  did  not  violate  any  law  of  England,  and  they  acted 
accordingly.  Practically  they  declared  that  "  their  gov- 
ernment derived  all  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,"  and  expressly  they  estahhshed,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  modern  world,  a  "  Democratical 
form  of  government."  To  secure  this  and  their  cherished 
idea  of  religious  freedom,  were  the  two  objects  aimed  at 
throughout  the  digest  of  laws  then  adopted.  For  these 
high  purposes  they  sacrificed  their  early  predilections  for 
English  laws  wherever  they  conflicted  with  them.  They 
commenced  their  career  as  an' independent  State,  by  vir- 
tue of  a  charter  that  made  them  such,  and  which  they 
knew,  although  it  might  be  forfeited  by  abuse,  could  not 
be  revoked  at  pleasure.  Their  statutes  were  so  framed 
as  to  be  within  both  its  letter  and  its  spirit,  and  so  long 
as  this  was  the  case  they  felt  secure  in  their  liberties. 

The  code,  in  its  divisions  of  the  law,  is  not  remarka- 
ble for  precision,  and  the  definitions  of  crime  are  not  such 
as  we  should  find  at  this  day  in  a  work  on  criminal  juris- 
prudence ;  but  the  meaning  is  clear  and  unmistakable. 
Each  offence  is  separately  defined,  and  its  penalty  dis- 
tinctly stated.  A  feeling  of  humanity  pervades  the  whole, 
as  if  the  object  were  to  repress  crime  rather  than  to  pun- 
ish it.  In  this  point  it  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
vindictive  spirit  of  cotemporary  codes  ;  sometimes  indeed 
erring,  it  may  be,  on  the  side  of  mercy,  and  ever  display- 
ing a  marked  respect  for  the  righls  of  conscience.  An 
instance  of  the  former  peculiarity  is  found  in  the  statute 
against  burglary,  of  which  the  penalty  was  death,  save 
where  the  convict  was  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  or  was 
a  poor  person  impelled  by  hunger  to  commit   the  crime  ; 


208  HISTORY    OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

in  which  case  it  was  declared  to  be  larceny.  The  pream- 
ble to  the  law  against  perjury  well  illustrates  the  regard 
felt  for  private  scruples.  "Forasmuch  as  the  consciences 
of  sundry  men,  truly  conscionable,  may  scruple  the  giving 
or  the  taking  of  an  oath,  and  it  would  be  nowise  suitable 
to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  our  place,  who  profess 
ourselves  to  be  men  of  different  consciences  and  not  one 
willing  to  force  another,  to  debar  such  as  cannot  do  so, 
either  from  bearing  office  among  us  or  from  giving  in  testi- 
mony  in  a  case  depending  ;  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority 
of  this  present  Assembly,  that  a  solemn  profession  or  tes- 
timony in  a  court  of  record,  or  before  a  judge  of  record, 
shall  be  accounted,  throughout  the  whole  colony,  of  as 
full  force  as  an  oath ; "  and  then  it  proceeds  to  decree  the 
penalty  of  perjury  against  any  who  should  falsify  such 
testimony.  This  deference  to  conscientious  motives  is  the 
more  remarkable  as  at  that  time  the  Friends  did  not  yet 
exist  as  a  distinct  society,  holding  to  the  unlawfulness  of 
oaths.  It  is  a  practical  and  legal  exposition  of  the  Rhode 
island  doctrine  upon  one  of  the  very  subjects  for  which 
the  Founder  of  the  State  had  suffered  twelve  years  be- 
fore.' The  law  for  the  recovery  of  debts  contains  a  pro- 
vision in  behalf  of  the  honest  debtor,  which  later  codes 
might  well  embody — "  but  he  shall  not  be  sent  to  prison, 
there  to  lie  languishing  to  no  man's  advantage,  unless  he 
refuse  to  appear  or  to  stand  to  their  order." 

Marriage  was  held  as  a  civil  contract  throughout  New 
England.  The  statute  required  the  banns  to  be  published 
at  two  town  meetings,  and  confirmed  before  the  chief  offi- 
cer of  the  town.  It  was  then  to  be  entered  on  the  town 
records,  thus  providing,  in  that  early  day,  a  registry  of 
marriage,  such  as  recent  legislation  has  attempted  to  re- 
vive. The  statute  regulating  the  probate  of  wills  con- 
tains a  singular  provision  in  the  case  of  intestates,  or  of 

'  On  30th  April,  1635,  Roger  Williams  was  called  before  the  Council  for 
his  views  on  the  matter  of  oaths.     Chap.  i.  p.  30,  ante. 


ARCHERY    PRESCRIBED    BY    STATUTE.  209 

executors  declinino;  to  act.     The   town  council  were  to  chap, 
have  an  inventory  taken,  and  then  to  distribute  the  estate  ,_^_ 
among  the  heirs  at  law,  appointing  an  executor  for  that  1^^" 
purpose  ;  in  other  words,  they  were   to  make  a  will  for  ]9.2i. 
him.     This  was  a  common  thing,  and  many  such  quasi 
testaments  remain  upon  the   town  records,  in  some  of 
which  a  largely  discretionary  power  appears  to  have  been 
exercised  by  the  councils.^     It  was  not  unusual  to  prove 
a  will  in  the  presence  of  the   testator,  before  his  death. 
The  instrument  being  executed,  and  witnesses  examined, 
it  was  returned  to  the   testator  duly  certified,  and   after 
his  decease  testamentary  letters  were  issued  to  the  execu- 
tor.    The  advantage  of  this  course  where   questions  of 
sanity  or  fraud  are  involved  is  obvious. 

There  are  very  many  points  in  this  digest  that  make 
it  an  interesting  study,  illustrative  of  the  progressive 
views  of  our  ancestors,  and  of  the  dangers  that  surrounded 
them.  We  can  allude  to  but  one  other  statute,  bearing 
upon  the  latter  point.  So  important  was  the  subject  of 
archery  considered,  in  view  of  the  menaces  to  which  they 
were  exposed  from  warlike  tribes,  whose  weapon  was  the 
bow,  and  of  their  own  liability  to  be  deprived  of  the  use 
of  their  tire-arms  from  want  of  ammunition,  that  it  was 
not  left,  like  the  other  laws  relating  to  military  defence, 
to  be  established  in  the  acts  and  orders  of  Assembly,  but 
was  embodied  in  the  code  itself  Every  man  between  the 
ages  of  seventeen  and  seventy  was  required  to  keep  a  bow 
and  four  arrows,  and  to  exercise  with  them  ;  and  every 
father  was  to  furnish  each  son,  from  seven  to  seventeen 
years  old,  with  a  bow,  two  arrows  and  shafts,  and  to  bring 

'  Judge  Staples  says  upon  this  subject :  "  They  were  not  simply  a  division 
and  distribution  of  the  estate  of  the  deceased  among  his  heirs  at  law,  but  in 
one  instance  now  in  existence  in  the  city  clerk's  ofBce  in  Providence,  they  dis- 
posed of  part  of  the  real  and  personal  estate  to  the  widow,  part  for  life  and 
))art  in  fee,  and  divided  the  residue  among  the  children  as  tenants  in  fee  tail 
general,  with  cross  remainders.  This  is  believed  to  be  pecuUar  to  this  col- 
ony.'''    Code  of  1647,  p.  50,  note. 

VOL.  I — 14 


210  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   them  up  to  shooting.     Violation  of  this  statute  was  pun- 

.^^.^  ished  by  a  fine  which  the  father  was  to  pay  for  the  son, 

164  7.  the  master  for  the  servant,  and  to  deduct  it  from  his 
May 
19-21.    wages. 

At  the  close  of  the  criminal  and  other  general  statutes 
of  the  code  occur  these  remarkable  words  : — 

"  These  are  the  laws  that  concern  all  men,  and  these 
are  the  penalties  for  the  transgression  thereof,  which,  by 
common  consent,  are  ratified  and  established  throughout 
the  whole  colony  ;  and,  otherwise  than  thus  what  is  herein 
forbidden,  all  men  may  walk  as  their  consciences  persuade 
them,  every  one  in  the  name  of  his  God  ;  and  let  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  walk  in  this  colony  without  mo- 
lestation, in  the  name  of  Jehovah  their  God,  forever  and 
ever." 

Thus  they  deny  the  existence  of  any  crime  not  speci- 
fied in  the  code,  and  expressly  permit  any  act  not  therein 
forbidden.  The  famous  statutes  of  2d  Elizabeth,  con- 
cerning uniformity  and  ecclesiastical  supremacy  were  not 
"  conformable  to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  place.'* 
The  code  preserves  as  significant  a  silence  on  this  subject 
as  does  the  charter  upon  which  it  is  based,  while  the  last 
clause  of  this  appended  sentence  proves  that  it  was  by  no 
oversight  that  the  aforenamed  acts  of  intolerance  were 
not  recognized  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  concluding  sections  of  the  code,  "  Touching  the 
public  administration  of  justice,"  relate  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  officers,  very  fully  defining  the  duties  of  each, 
and  regulate  the  proceedings  in  Courts.  By-  these  it  ap- 
pears that  the  President  and  Assistants  had  no  part  in 
legislation.  That  power  was  reserved  to  the  General  As- 
sembly of  all  the  people,  and  "to  the  Courts  of  Commis- 
sioners, six  from  each  town,  appointed  at  this  time.  Thus 
it  remained  until  altered  by  the  royal  charter.  They 
composed  the  General  Court  of  Trials,  having  cognizance 
of  weighty  offences,  and  were  also  a  Court  of  Appeal  in 


DEATH    OF    CANONICUS.  211 

cases  that  were  too  difficult  for  the  town  Courts  to  decide. 
Causes  between  different  towns,  or  between  citizens  and 
strangers  were  also  tried  by  them.  This  Court  met  in  1647, 
May  and  October.  The  town  Courts  had  original  juris-  19  2J. 
diction  in  suits  among  their  own  citizens.  The  President 
was  conservator  of  the  Peace  over  the  colony,  and  the  As- 
sistants in  their  respective  towns,  where  they  also  acted 
as  Coroners.  Besides  these  officers  there  were  a  General 
Recorder,  a  Public  Treasurer,  and  a  General  Sergeant  ; 
afterwards '  a  General  Attorney  and  a  General  Solicitor 
were  added.  ^ 

Such  were  the  proceedings  of  the  first  General  As- 
sembh'  of  Rhode  Island.  From  them  we  may  gather  the 
spirit  of  all  her  subsequent  legislation,  and  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  condition  of  affairs  in  England,  and  in  the 
neighboring  colonies  at  tbis  period,  we  may  almost  foresee 
the  leading  events  of  her  history.  The  young  Common- 
wealth was  now  fairly  started  on  its  career  of  progress, 
with  no  precedents  to  guide  its  earnest  statesmen  in  their 
perplexities  ;  nothing  but  their  own  clear  minds  and 
strong  hearts  could  aid  them  in  solving  the  two  grandest 
problems  in  civil  government.  Well  has  the  philosophi- 
cal historian  of  the  United  States  said  of  Rhode  Island  : 
"  Had  the  territory  of  the  State  corresponded  to  the  im- 
portance and  singularity  of  the  principles  of  its  early  ex- 
istence, the  world  would  have  been  filled  with  wonder  at 
the  phenomena  of  its  history.^" 

The  death  of  Canonicus,  the  earliest  and  firmest  friend    June 

A. 

of  Rhode  Island,  took  place  at  this  time.  The  venerable 
sachem  of  the  Narragansets,  who  was  an  old  man  when 
the  first  plantation  was  made  at  Pro\ddence,  just  lived  to 

■'  In  May,  1650. 

^  The  similarity  between  the  Xew  England  Confederacy  of  16-13  and  the 
National  Confederation  of  1783  has  been  often  remarked  ;  but  there  is  yet  a 
itronger  resemblance  in  the  relative  position  of  the  four  towns  of  Rhode  Island 
in  1647,  and  the  States  of  the  Federal  Union  under  the  constitution  of  1787. 

3  Bancroft's  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  i.  380. 


212  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  see  the  scattered  and  feeble  settlements  of  the  English 
.^...^^^  united  into  one  Province.  He  died  at  a  critical  period  in 
16  4  7.  the  history  of  his  nation,  when  they  were  striving  by  vain 
4  delays  to  evade  the  ruinous  treaty  imposed  on  them  by 
the  New  England  confederates.  As  he  passed  in  review 
the  events  of  his  long  and  chequered  life,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  his  declining  years  wei-e  clouded  by  gloomy  forebod- 
ings. Under  the  guidance  of  his  warlike  ancestor,  Tash- 
tassuck,^  the  tribe  had  become  a  nation,  and  succiessive 
conquests  had  swelled  the  nation  into  an  empire.  Long 
before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock,  Canonicus 
had  inherited  the  sceptre  of  a  wide-spread  dominion,  by 
far  the  most  powerful  of  any  that  were  found  by  the  Eng- 
lish. He  was  "  a  wise  and  peaceable  Prince,"  aiming 
to  advance  his  race  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  even  before 
any  contact  with  the  English  had  made  them  acquainted 
with  the  means  and  appliances  of  civilization.  When 
conquest  had  secured  his  kingdom  war  was  laid  aside  ; 
commerce  and  manufactures,  limited  and  rude  to  be  sure, 
were  encouraged,  and  the  Narragansets  became  rich  as 
well  as  strong,  spreading  the  knowledge  of  their  language 
and  the  customs  of  their  trade  over  a  region  of  more  than 
six  hundred  miles  in  extent.'^  But  the  spell  of  their  power 
was  broken  when  the  Pilgrims  received  the  proposal  of 
Ousamequin,  or  Massasoit,  to  form  a  friendly  alliance. 
The  defection  of  the  Pokanokets  carried  with  them  all 
their  subordinate  tribes,  and  since  that  time  one  after 
another  of  the  native  chiefs  had  deserted  their  j)roper 
prince,  to  seek  the  dangerous  protection  of  the  English. 
In  all  his  intercourse  with  the  English,  from  the  time  of 

^  The  Indian  tradition  is  that  he  was  greater  than  any  prince  in  the  coun- 
try, and  having  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  whom  he  could  not  match 
in  dignity,  he  married  them  to  each  other.  Their  issue  was  four  sous,  of 
whom  Canouicus  was  the  eldest.  Hutchinson's  Mass.,  i.  458,  note.  The  Pe 
ruvian  Incas  have  a  similar  tradition  respecting  the  origin  of  the  founder  of 
their  dynasty. 

*  Roger  Williams'  Key,  p.  18. 


NEWPORT    AND    PORTSMOUTH    DISAGREE.  213 

his  first  treaty  to  the  day  of  his  death,  they  could  never  chap. 

*  VTT 

charge  him  with  violated  faith.     Yet  he  could  name  ten  , ^, 

different  instances  in  which  their  solemn  pledge  to  him  16  47. 
and  his  tribe  had  been  broken.  "  I  have  never  suffered 
any  W' rong  to  be  offered  to  the  English  since  they  landed, 
nor  never  will ; — if  the  Englishman  speak  true,  if  he 
mean  truly,  then  shall  I  go  to  my  grave  in  peace,  and 
hope  that  the  English  and  my  posterity  shall  live  in  love 
and  peace  together."  These  were  the  truthful  and  half- 
desponding  words  once  spoken  by  him  to  the  Founder  of 
Khode  Island,  "  in  a  solemn  Assembly."  There  were 
reasons,  and  he  recounted  ten,  for  the  doubting  spirit  that 
oppressed  him,  and  wliich  imparted  to  his  language  the 
saddening  force  of  an  omen.  With  the  settlers  of  Rhode 
Island,  whom  he  had  received  in  their  weakness,  he  ever 
maintained  the  most  intimate  and  friendly  relatious  ;  and 
it  should  be  said  in  justice  to  our  ancestors  that,  from 
them,  he  never  had  cause  to  repent  or  to  withhold  his 
kindness.  That  he  suffered  from  the  jealousy  of  the  other 
colonies,  who  were  hostile  alike  to  him  and  to  them,  is  no 
fault  of  theirs  ;  while  the  fact  that  his  unwavering  fidel- 
ity to  the  founders  of  Rhode  Island  was  the  principal 
cause  of  his  disasters,  affords  ample  reason  why  their 
descendants  should  revere  his  virtues  and  embalm  his 
memory. 

The  union  of  the  towns  under  one  government  did  not 
serve  to  heal  the  disputes  with  which  each  one  was  more 
or  less  disturbed.  Their  distinct  powers  were  in  no  de- 
gree abridged  by  the  compact  they  had  formed.  Their 
local  affairs  were  as  much  under  their  own  control  as  be- 
fore, and  we  shall  soon  see  that  even  the  burden  of  a  gen- 
eral union,  so  essential  to  their  strength,  was  more  than 
they  could  bear.  Between  Newport  and  Portsmouth  a 
difficulty  arose  as  to  their  relative  positions  under  the  new 
government.  For  the  past  seven  years  they  had,  for  the 
most  part,  acted  together  as  one  colony.     Whether  to 


214  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  continue  thus,  or  to  act  as  separate  towns,  wliicla  was  the 
,.^.^_;^  reasonable   construction  of  the   charter,  appears  to  have 
164  7.  been  the  question.     The  loss  of  the  Newport   records  of 
this  period  leaves  us  only  the  fragmentary  notices  of  meet- 
ings at  Portsmouth,  from  which  to  conjecture  the  real  na- 
ture and  extent  of  this  difference.     By  these  it  appears 
6.      that  certain  messengers,  sent  by  Newport  to  Portsmouth, 
were  informed  "that  if  they  will  joyn  with  us  to  act  ac- 
cording to  the  General  Corte   order  for  this  year  we  are 
redie  thereto,  if  not  we  must  go  bye  ourselff  by  the  corte 
order."     It  also  appears  that  forty-one  votes  were  given 
in  Newport  to  act  jointly,  and  twenty-four  to  act  alone. 
Aug.    It  was  proposed  to  call  a  special  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly,  but  the  grounds  for  so  doing  were  deemed  in- 
1647-8.  sufficient.     A  few   months   later  it   was   "  voted  unani- 
27*     mously  by  the  freemen  of  Portsmouth   that   they  would 
act  apart  by  themselves,  and  not  jointly  with  Newport, 
and  be  as  free  in  their  transactions  as  anie  of  the  other 
towns  in  the  colonic."     Providence  was  more  distracted 
than  either  of  the  others  by  domestic  difficulties,  and 
many  were  the  expedients  proposed  by  her  citizens  to  se- 
cure tranquillity.     But  they  were  too  general  in  their  na- 
ture, not  bearing  directly  upon  the  specific  causes  of  con- 
Dec,    tention,  to  effect  their  object.     One  of  these  agreements 
adopted  at  Providence  is  transcribed  by  Judge  Staples,' 
who  justly  says  that  little  good  could  come  of  such  instru- 
ments, since  those  who  signed  them  did   not  need  them, 
and  those  who  required  them  would   not   agree  to  them, 
and  that   every  one  was  left  as  before  to  decide  whether 
his  own  or  other's  acts  were  in  accordance  with  their  letter 
or  spirit,  and  hence  they  would  afford  new  causes  of  dis- 
pute, thereby  endangering  the  peace  they  were  intended 
to  promote.     The  democratic  element  was  too  strongly 
infused,  and  the  conservative  principles  that  underlie  it 
were  as  yet  too  little  understood  by  a  portion  of  the  peo- 

'  Annals  of  Providence,  p.  70. 


GORTON    AND    WINSLOW   IN    ENGLAND.  215 

pie,  to  admit  of  that  perfect  harmony  in  civil  concerns  chap. 
which  the  successful  application  of  the  same  doctrine  of  ^^ 
individual  responsibility  had  already  produced  among  16  4  7. 
them  in  religious  matters.  It  is  an  easier  thing  to  apply 
the  principle  of  personal  liberty  in  religion  than  in  poli- 
tics, in  the  affairs  that  relate  solely  to  man  and  his  Maker, 
than  in  those  that  pertain  to  human  intercourse.  Both 
applications  of  the  great  idea  were  equally  novel.  The 
one  had  already  met  with  triumphant  success,  for  eleven 
years  of  trial  among  men  of  various  and  earnest  faith, 
had  established  its  practicability,  while  the  other  was  still 
an  experiment  of  which  the  result  as  yet  appeared  doubtful. 
Gorton  still  remained  in  England,  where  his  presence 
was  required  to  counteract  the  designs  of  the  Massachu- 
setts agent.  Winslow  attempted  to  justify  the  conduct 
of  his  government  towards  the  men  of  Shawomet,  by  de- 
nouncing their  heresies,  but  could  not  satisfy  the  Admi- 
ralty that  the  Massachusetts  had  any  jurisdiction  beyond 
the  bounds  of  their  patent,  although  he  pleaded  that, 
"  1st,  they  were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Plymouth  or 
Connecticut,  and  so  the  order  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  had  left  them  to  those  of  the  Massachu- 
setts ;  and  2d,  the  Indians,  upon  whose  land  they  dwelt, 
had  subjected  themselves  and  their  land  to  their  govern- 
ment." '  Upon  this  the  committee  of  Parliament  again 
wrote  to  Massachusetts,  referring  to  their  letter  of  the  jj^^^ 
previous  year,  and  declaring  that  "  we  intended  not  there-  25. 
by  to  encourage  any  appeals  from  your  justice,  nor  to  re- 
strain the  bounds  of  your  jurisdiction  to  a  narrower  com- 
pass than  is  held  forth  by  your  Letters  Patent,  but  to 
leave  you  with  all  that  freedom  and  latitude  that  may,  in 
any  respect,  be  duly  claimed  by  you,"  and  adding  that  if 
it  proves,  as  claimed,  that  Narraganset  Bay  falls  within 
the  limits  of  Plymouth  patent,  it  "  will  much  alter  the 
state  of  the  question."     Soon  afterwards  the  committee 

Hubbard's  New  England,  507.     Winthrop  ii.  317. 


216  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,    wrote  another  letter,  saying  that   they  could  not  decide 
,^_^__,   whether  Shawomet  was  covered  by  any  of  the  New  Eng- 
16  4  7.  land  patents,  without  an  examination  on  the  spot,  but  if 
02.'     it  should  so  prove  they  "  commend  it  to  the  government, 
within  whose  jurisdiction  they  shall  appear  to  be,  not 
only  not  to  remove  them  from  their  plantations,  but  also 
to  encourage  them  with  protection  and  assistance,  in  all 
fit  ways  ;  provided  that  they  demean  themselves  peacea- 
bly, &c."     Letters  to  the   same  effect  were   sent  to  the 
other  New  England  governments. ' 

It  is  difficult  to  see  what  encouragement  could  be 
drawn  from  these  letters,  by  the  parties  to  w^hom  they  are 
addressed,  yet  the  Puritan  chroniclers  are  jubilant  over 
the  jjrospect  of  having  their  illegal  and  outrageous  pro- 
ceedings sanctioned  by  Parliament,  and  their  agent  at 
once  "  proceeded  to  have  the  charter,  which  they  had 
lately  granted  to  those  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence, 
to  be  called  in,  as  lying  within  the  patent  of  Plymouth 
or  Connecticut."  In  this  we  know  he  signally  failed. 
The.  town  of  Warwick  being  received  into  the  corpo- 
Aiig.  ration  on  equal  terms  with  those  mentioned  in  the  char- 
^*  ter,  conformed  to  the  orders  of  Assembly  by  electing  a 
town  council,  and  commenced  keeping  records.  They 
"  made  a  compact,  instigated  by  their  position  in  regard  to 
Massachusetts,  and  by  the  troubles  resulting  at  Pawtuxet 
from  the  same  source,  binding  themselves  not  to  convey 
their  property  by  sale,  gift,  or  otherwise  to  any  but  those 
who  should  sign  this  agreement,  and  prohibiting  such 
conveyance  to  any  other  jurisdiction  on  pain  of  disfran- 
chisement and  of  forfeiture  of  the  whole  estate  to  the 
town.  This  article  formed  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
town.  Every  inhabitant  was  required  to  sign  his  name  to 
it.  It  was  confirmed  a  few  months  later,^  and  was  always 
known  as  "  the  grand  law." 

'  Both  of  these  letters  are  given  in  "Winthrop,  ii.  318-20,  and  are  copieJ 
by  Hubbnrd,  chap.  Iv. 

^  23d  January,  1648.     See  Warwick  records. 


RETURN    OF    GORTON.  217 

But  the  Massacliusetts  were  careful  not  to  lose  their  chap 
hold  upon  Warwick  through  any  lapse  of  watchfulness.   .__^_^ 
Some  of  their  subjects  had  settled  there,  and  the  Indians   1  •>  i  7. 
of  Shawomet  were  under  their  protection.     Complaints 
were  made  by  both  of  these  of  injuries  received  from  in- 
truders.    The  corn  of  the  natives  had  been  destroyed,  and 
an  English  house  had  been  forcibly  entered  and  its  occu- 
pant threatened.     The  General  Court  sent  three  messen-   1647-8. 
gers  to  warn  off  the  depredators,  and  to  compel  restitu-  *^^'"^"- 
tion.     In  case  they  did  not  obtain  satisfaction  at  War- 
wick, they  were  to  proceed  to  Aquedneck  and  Providence, 
and  demand  of  the  authorities  there  whether  they  sanc- 
tioned these  acts.' 

Gorton,  no  doubt  satisfied  that  Winslow  could  effect  1^^  8' 
nothing,  returned  to  America  in  the  spring.  As  in  the 
case  of  Holden,  the  Court,  upon  his  arrival  at  Boston,  or- 
dered his  arrest.  A  letter  which  he  brought  from  the 
Earl  of  Warwick  saved  him  from  imprisonment,  although 
so  many  favored  violent  proceedings,  that  the  most  urgent 
considerations  of  State  policy  alone  prevented  the  Earle's 
request  from  being  disregarded  ;  and  Gorton  was  allowed 
to  pass  safely  to  his  home  only  by  the  casting  vote  of  the 
Governor. 

The  General  Assembly  was  then  in  session  at  Provi-  ^^ 
dence.  Two  messengers  ^  were  sent  to  Boston  with  a  let- 
ter "  concerning  the  Warwick  business,"  but  on  reaching 
Dedham  they  heard  that  the  General  Court  was  adjourned, 
and  one  of  them,  Barton,  a  resident  of  Warwick,  wrote  22. 
to  Gov.  Winthrop  to  ascertain  how  he  would  be  received 
by  him  if  he  continued  his  journey.  What  reply,  if  any, 
was  made  to  this  letter,  does  not  appear.  The  terms  in 
which  it  is  expressed  are  almost  servile  in  their  extreme 
courtesy.  The  narrow  escape  that  Gorton  had  just  had, 
although  protected  by  the   powerful  Earl  of  Warwick, 

'  Their  instructions  are  found  in  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  228. 
'■'  Captain  Clarke  and  Rufus  Barton. 


218  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,   might  Avell  teach  caution  to  the  humble  envoy  of  Khode 
Island,  and  the  more  so  as  he  was  one  of  the  outlawed 

16  4  8.  company,  perhaps  himself  involved  in  the  recent  com- 
''  ■  plaints.  His  letter  would  not  here  be  noticed  but  for  the 
use  made  of  it  by  Hubbard,  the  absurdity  of  which  is  too 
palpable  to  be  passed  over.  He  says  :  "  By  the  style  o 
this  letter  it  appears  how  this  company  were  crest-fallen, 
who  but  a  little  before  had  a  mouth  speaking  great  tilings 
and  blasphemies  ;  but  thanks  be  unto  God,  they  had  not 
power  to  continue  very  long  ;  for  being  now  -reduced  to  a 
little  more  sobriety  in  their  language  and  behavior,  they 
were  permitted  quietly  to  enjoy  their  possessions  at  Shaw- 
omet.  This  was  the  issue  of  the  address  made  by  these 
Gortonists  to  the  Commissioners,  who  after  the  great 
clamor  and  noise  they  had  made  could  make  nothing  ap- 
pear of  that  which  they  had  affirmed."  That  the  man- 
date of  the  Lord  High  Admiral  of  England,  and  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Plantations  should  depend  for  its  fulfil- 
ment upon  the  courtly  expressions  of  a  letter  from  an 
humble  inhabitant  of  Warwick  to  the  magnates  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, will  excite  a  smile.  That  after  this  the  Gor- 
tonists "  were  permitted  quietly  to  enjoy  their  posses- 
sions," should  have  caused  them  to  feel  ever  grateful  to 
their  courteous  messenger,  who  had  so  softened  the  hearts 
of  their  magnanimous  oppressors.^  Notwithstanding  the 
concluding  assertion  of  the  Ipswich  divine,  the  event 
proved  that  they  made  enough  to  appear  not  only  to  pre- 
vent the  Parliament  from  revoking  their  first  decision  in 

*  Taking  Hiibbard's  absurd  comment  as  correct,  no  more  palpable  instance 
can  be  found  in  history  of  the  truth  of  the  maxim  that  "  nothing  is  lost  by 
civility."  Winthrop  inserts  Barton's  letter,  addressed  to  himself,  but  does  not 
say  what  he  did  about  it,  nor  does  he  make  any  comments  upon  it.  The 
bifotry  of  Hubbard  must  have  been  of  the  most  Pharisaical  and  self-satisfy- 
ing kind  to  enable  him  to  draw,  from  a  private  letter  of  the  Warwick  mes- 
senger, any  solace  for  the  wound  inflicted  upon  ecclesiastical  pretension  by 
triumphant  heresy.  To  attribute,  as  he  does,  to  the  accidental  phraseology 
of  such  a  letter  the  subsequent  compulsory  forbearance  of  the  Puritans,  is 
simplj  ridiculous. 


ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    COURT    OF    COMMISSIONERS.  219 

favor  of  the  Gortonists,  but  also  to  have  it  confirmed,  a  chap. 
few  years  later,  by  Royal  charter,  to  the  final  discomfiture  .^.^^^ 
of  their  implacable  enemies.  16  48. 

An  amendment  of  the  law  organizing  the  General 
Court  was  now  made.  This  Court,  composed  of  six  men 
chosen  from  each  town,  soon  came  to  be  in  fact  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  although  if  any  others  chose  to  remain, 
those  whose  help  was  desired  were  allowed  to  do  so.  In 
case  any  town  refused  to  elect  members,  the  Court,  by 
this  amendment,  was  required  to  choose  for  them.  The 
General  Court,  as  now  constituted,  was  often  called  the 
Court  of  Commissioners,  or  the  "  Committee  " — a  name 
still  preserved  in  styling  the  two  branches  of  Assembly, 
when  united  for  the  choice  of  ofiicers,  "  the  Grand  Com- 
mittee." The  act  making  this  body  a  General  Court  of 
trials  was  continued.  In  their  judicial  capacity  they  were 
to  hear  causes  in  the  place  where  the  action  arose  or  the 
criminal  was  arrested,  and  at  such  times  as  were  appointed 
by  law.  Hence,  we  presume,  arose  the  custom,  existing 
until  a  recent  date,  of  the  General  Assembly's  meeting  in 
the  difierent  chief  towns  of  the  State. 

The  first  business  of  the  Assembly,  or  "  General  Court 
of  Election,"  as  it  was  termed,  when  opened  for  the 
choice  of  general  officers,  was  to  go  into  the  election.  A 
Moderator  and  Clerk  were  chosen  ;  the  State  officers  were 
then  elected.  The  Clerk  of  Assembly  was  required  to 
send  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  to  each  town. 

The  changes  made  at  this  time  were  remarkable,  when 
we  consider  that  it  was  the  first  election  since  the  gov- 
ernment was  organized.  They  indicate  already  the  exist- 
ence of  opposing  parties.  William  Coddington  was  elect- 
ed President,  Roger  Williams  of  Providence,  William 
Balston  of  Portsmouth,  John  Smith  of  Warwick,  and 
Jeremy  Clarke  of  Newport,  Assistants.  The  latter  was 
also  continued  in  his  office  of  Treasurer.  Philip  Sher- 
man was  chosen  General  Recorder,  and  Alexander  Par- 


220  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,  tridge,  General  Sergeant.     By  the  list  of  the  twenty-four 
.J.^  members  of  this  Assembly,  it  appears  that  one  might  be 
1  6  48.  a  member  from  any  town,  and  at  the  same  time  a  general 
^^'    officer.     The  towns  were  ordered  to  meet  within  ten  days 
to  choose  their  town  officers.     The  "  Act  made  and  agreed 
upon  for  the  well-ordering  of  this  Assembly,"  correspond- 
ing to  our  modern  "  Rules  and  Orders,"  is  worthy  of  at- 
tention for  the  conciseness   and   simplicity  with  which  it 
regulates  the  business  and    decorum  of  the   legislative 
body.  ,       ' 

"  It  is  ordered,  That  y^  Moderator  shall  cause  y''  Clark 
of  y^  Assembly  to  call  over  the  names  of  the  Assembly. 

"  That  the  Moderator  shall  appoint  every  mun  to  take 
his  place. 

"  That  all  matters  presented  to  the  Assembly's  con- 
sideration, shall  be  presented  in  writing  by  bill. 

"  That  each  bill  be  fairly  discust,  and  if  by  y'  major 
vote  of  the  Assembly  it  shall  be  putt  to  a  committee  to 
draw  up  an  order,  which  being  concluded  by  y"  vote, 
shall  stand  for  an  order  threwout  y"  whole  colony. 

"  That  the  Moderator  shall  putt  all  matters  to  vote. 

"  That  every  man  shall  have  liberty  to  speak  freely  to 
any  matter  propounded  yett  but  once,  unless  it  be  by 
lease  from  y'  Moderator. 

"  That  he  that  stands  uj)  first  uncovered,  shall  speake 
first  to  the  cause. 

"  That  the  Moderator  by  y^  vote  of  y  Assembly  shall 
rejourne  or  dissolve  y"  Court,  and  not  without,  at  his 
great  perile. 

"  That  he  that  shall  returns  not  to  his  place  at  y* 
time  appointed,  shall  forfeitt  sixpence. 

"  That  they  that  whisper  or  disturb  y'  Court,  or  useth 
nipping  terms,  shall  forfeitt  sixpence  for  every  fault.' 
"  Wm.  Dyre,  Clerk  of  the  Assembly." 

*  Were  the  latter  rule,  especially  the  last  clause  of  it,  now  in  force,  it 
would  aid  the  revenue  of  the  State  ;  although  it  might  be  difficult  to  define 
■with  the  precision  of  a  statute  what  should  be  held  as  "  nipping  terms." 


CONTINUED    DISAGREEMENT    AT    AQUEDNECK.  221 

Complaints  were  made  at  this  Assembly  against  the  chap. 
President  elect.     He  was  not  jiresent  at  the  election,  nor  ^^^• 
did  he  appear  to  rejtel  the  charges,  whatever  they  were,   in 48. 
That  he  was  chosen  to  that  high  office  under  such  circum-    ^  '^- ' 
stances  seems  strange.     As  he  continued  to  absent  him- 
self Jeremy  Clark,  Assistant,  of  Newport,  was  chosen  to 
fill  his  place  temporarily,  with  the  title  of  President  Re- 
gent ;  and  provision  was  made  that  in  case  of  vacancy  by 
the  death,  or  absence  from  the  colony,  of  the  President, 
then  the  Assistant  of  that  town  from  which  the  President 
was  chosen  should  supply  his  place. 

The  dissensions  on  the  Island  were  not  healed  by  this  May 
Assembly.  Just  before  it  met,  the  Town  Clerk  of  Ports- 
mouth was  ordered  to  inform  Newport  of  their  decision  to 
act  separately  The  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  seem 
to  have  widened  the  breach.  It  appears  that  even  "  the 
legality  of  the  Corte  and  orders  thereof"  was  questioned  Jnly 
by  Portsmouth.  There  was  evidently  some  serious  trou- 
ble on  the  Island,  threatening  the  existence  of  the  colo- 
ny.' Portsmouth  was  disaffected,  and  the  conduct  of 
Coddington  favored  the  alienation.  His  subsequent  acts 
may  furnish  a  clue  to  his  motives  at  this  time,  Roger 
Williams,  who  appears  as  a  peacemaker  in  all  the  troubles 
of  the  colony,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  town  of  Providence,  Aug. 
wherein  he  represents  the  State  as  distracted  by  two  par- 
ties, Portsmouth  and  its  partisans  being  one,  and  the  re- 
maining three  towns  the  other,  and  suggested  a  plan  of 
reference  by  which  the  dispute  might  be  settled,  viz. ,  that 
Portsmouth  and  its  friends  should  select  three  men,  and 
the  other  towns  three,   one  from  each,  whose    decision 

'  It  is  probable  that  this  difference  between  Portsmouth  and  Newport  re- 
fen-ed  to  the  Courts  of  trials  which  up  to  tliis  time  had  been  held  jointly  by 
the  two  towns,  but  were  now  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  to  be  held 
separately  in  each  town.  This  vie\>  is  strengthened  by  the  passage  of  an 
act  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Assembly  after  the  reunion,  giving  these  towna 
leave  to  hold  their  Courts  jointly  or  apart  as  they  pleased.  See  Act  No.  13^ 
Sept.  session,  1654. 


222  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

should  be  final.     Unfortunately  Mr.  Williams  does  not 
mention   the    causes   of  disagreement.      That    aifairs  in 

16  4  8.  England,  now  approaching  a  crisis,  had  some  influence  in 
these  contentions  is  more  than  probable.  Coddington  was 
a  royalist,  and  was  about  attempting  to  withdraw  the 
island  from  the  other  towns  and  unite  it  to  Plymouth. 
Clarke  and  Eastcn  were  republicans,  and  leaders  of  the 
dominant  party  on  the  island. 

The  hostile  attitude  of  the  Indians,  occasionecT  by  the 
determination  of  the  United  Colonies  to  protect  Uncas  at 
every  hazard,  from  the  punishment  due  to  his  crime  at 
the  hand  of  the  Narragansets,  caused  more-  serious  alarm 
than  ever  betbre.  The  dissensions  prevaiUng  among  them, 
those  of  Shawomet  and  Pawtuxet  owning  allegiance  to 
Massachusetts,  and  viewing  as  enemies  all  Englishmen 
whom  she  denounced,  while  the  Niantics  and  Nipmucks 
remained  true  to  their  j)roper  princes,  made  the  situation 
of  Khode  Island,  surrounded  as  she  was  by  these  dis- 

^^pt-  tracted  and  exasperated  tribes,  extremely  perilous.  The 
inhabitants  of  Warwick  sutfered  severely  from  this  cause. 
A  letter  written  by  Mr.  John  Smith,  Assistant,  in  behalf 
of  the  town,  was  carried  by  Kandal  Holden  and  John 
Warner  to  Plymouth,  where  the  New  England  Commis- 
sioners were  convened.  They  comj)]ained  that  the  In- 
dians had  killed  their  cattle,  abused  their  servants,  en- 
tered their  houses  by  force,  maltreating  the  occupants, 
and  stealing  their  goods  ;  and  desired  advice  on  the  sub- 
ject. This  was  a  proper  course  to  adopt,  since  those  In- 
dians were  under  their  protection.  But  the  island  of 
Khode  Island  went  still  further.  Mr.  Coddington,  who 
had  been  chosen  President  of  the  colony,  but  had  never 
taken  his  engagement,  with  Captain  Partridge,  the  Gen- 
eral Sergeant,  presented,  at  the  same  time,  a  written  re- 
quest, signed  by  themselves  in  behalf  of  Khode  Island, 
"  That  wee  the  Ilanders  of  Roode  Hand  may  be  recaived 
into  combination  with  all  the   united    colonyes  of  New 


Sept. 


AQUEDNECK  ASKS  TO  JOIN^  THE  N.  ENGLAND  LEAGUE.      223 

England  in  a  prime  and  perpetuall  league  of  friendship  chap. 
and  amity  :  of  ofence  and  defence,  Mutuall  advice  and  .^^.^J^ 
succor  upon  all  just  occasions  for  our  mutuall  safety  and  1^6  4  8; 
wellfaire,  and  for  preserving  of  peace  amongst  ourselves, 
and  preventing  as  much  as  may  bee  all  occasions  of  warr 
and  Diference,  and  to  this  our  motion  we  have  the  consent 
of  the  major  part  of  our  Hand."  ' 

This  appears  almost  like  an  act  of  treason  against  the 
colony  ;  much  more  so  than  those  acts  which  a  few  years 
later  gave  rise  to  the  famous  trials  for  that  crime.  But 
the  imminent  danger  to  which  they  were  exposed  might 
excuse  a  greater  sacrifice  than  they  proposed,  while  it 
makes  the  refusal  they  received  appear  absolutely  inhu- 
man. That  the  islanders  intended  nothing  more  than  a 
defensive  alliance  which  would  not  compromise  their  posi- 
tion as  members  of  the  colony  under  the  charter,  may  be 
inferred  from  their  refusal  of  the  offered  terms  of  safety. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  any  expression  occurs  in  the  petition 
that  could  be  construed  as  an  allusion  to  their  mternal 
difficulties,  for  it  strengthens  the  evidence  that  Codding- 
ton,  and  many  whom  he  represented,  inclined  to  accede  to 
the  terms  imposed.  The  Commissioners,  in  their  reply, 
commiserate  the  petitioners  uj^on  their  domestic  strifes, 
and  the  dangers  of  their  position,  but,  claiming  the  island 
to  be  within  Plymouth  patent,  they  refuse  the  request  un- 
less this  claim  should  be  recog-nized.  This  answer  miofht 
have  been  expected  from  the  treatment  Rhode  Island  had 
before  received."^  It  is  said  that  Coddington  and  the  town 
of  Portsmouth  were  willing  to  accept  the  condition,  but 
were  prevented  by  the  other  towns.  Had  they  submitted 
the  charter  would  have  been  virtually  annulled  by  the  act 
of  its  holders,  and  the  schemes  of  the  surrounding  colo- 
nies  to  appropriate  the  rest  of  the   State  might  have 

'  Hazard's  State  Papers,  ii.  99. 

^  In   Oct.,  16iO,  when  a  league  was  first  proposed,  and  in  May,  1643. 
wlien  it  was  formed. 


12. 


224  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  proved  successful.'  Rhode  Island  would  soon  have  been 
,2.^^  absorbed  by  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 
16  48.  The  notice  taken  of  the  "Warwick  complaint  was  rather 
IQ  *  remarkable.  The  Commissioners  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
sachems,  advising  them  to  abstain  from  such  conduct  in 
future,  and  telling  them  that,  if.  they  received  any  injury 
from  the  English,  satisfaction  should  be  given  them,  as  the 
like  would  be  expected  from  them.^  The  mildness  of  this 
rebuke  to  their  offending  subjects,  contrasts  with,  the  se- 
verity of  the  terms  dictated  to  the  islanders.  Scarcely 
had  this  missive  been  sent  when  letters  were  received  from 
Eoger  Williams  and  others,  warning  the  United  Colonies 
of  preparations  making  by  the  Narragansets  to  renew  the 
war  on  Uncas.  Messengers  were  sent  to  Pessacus  requir- 
ing him  to  desist,  and  demanding  anew  the  arrears  of 
tribute.  Acts  of  violence  were  becoming  daily  more  fie- 
quent.  The  United  Colonies,  as  they  were  in  no  small 
degree  the  cause  of  these  outrages,  were  looked  to  for  re- 
dress by  the  sufferers.  Henry  Bull,  of  Newport,  soon  af- 
Q  .  terward  complained  that  he  had  been  beaten  by  some 
7.  Narraganset  Indians,  and  asked  aid  in  obtaining  satisfac- 
tion. He  was  referred  to  Rhode  Island  for  relief,  and 
further  referred  to  the  advice  lately  given  to  the  islanders 
how  they  might  secure  protection.  A  copy  of  the  letter 
to  the  sachems,  that  was  given  to  the  Warwick  men,  was 
also  furnished  to  him,  "  for  his  future  security."  This 
paper,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Commissioners,  possessed  the 
virtue  of  a  passport. 

^  Hutchinson,  i.  p.  150,  note,  says :  "  Plymouth  would  soon  have  been 
swallowed  up  in  Rhode  Island  from  the  great  superiority  of  the  latter.  Be- 
sides, the  principles  of  the  people  of  the  two  colonies  were  so  different  that  a 
junction  must  have  rendered  both  miserable."  But  as  Plymouth  was  herself 
annexed  to  Massachusetts  in  1692,  when  the  provincial  government  was 
formed  under  Sir  William  Phipps,  the  whole  of  Rhode  Island,  under  this  sup- 
position, except  the  King's  province,  claimed  by  Connecticut,  would  then 
have  belonged  to  Massachusetts. 
«  Hazard,  ii.  100-1. 


CODDINGTON    SAILS    FOR    ENGLAND.  225 

Coddington,  having  failed  In  his  attempt  to  detach  the  chap 
island  from  the  other  towns,  soon  after  sailed  for  England  vjl^ 
to  procure  for  it  a  separate  charter.  His  design  was  not  1*348-9. 
known  at  the  time.  His  daughter  accompanied  him,  and  29.  . 
Captain  Partridge  was  left  to  manage  his  affairs,  includ- 
ing, no  doubt,  his  political  interests. 

The  discovery  of  what  was  supposed  to  be  gold  and 
silver  ore  upon  the  island,  caused  great  excitement  in  the 
colony.  A  special  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  was  ^*^ch. 
held  at  Warwick.  No  record  of  it  remains,  but  by  the 
letter  of  Roger  Williams,  and  from  other  sources,  we  are 
informed  of  its  proceedings.  The  distracted  state  of  the 
towns,  and  the  importance  attached  to  this  discovery  of 
precious  metals,  probably  led  to  the  meeting.  The  vio- 
lence of  party  sjjirit  had  so  compromised  many  of  the 
leading  men  in  the  colony  that,  to  the  sagacious  mind  of 
Williams,  the  only  mode  of  escape  from  increasing  dan- 
ger was  by  the  passage  of  a  general  "  act  of  oblivion."  At 
his  suggestion  such  an  act  was  passed.  Mr.  Williams 
was  not  present  at  that  session,  but  was  elected  Deputy 
President  of  the  Colony,  probably  owing  to  his  constant 
efforts  to  promote  peace.  He  declined  the  honor,  and  in 
a  letter  to  Mr.  John  Winthrop  ^  says,  "  I  hope  they  have 
chosen  a  better,"  but  they  did  not,  and  Mr.  Williams 
acted  as  President  till  the  election  in  May. 

^  The  son  of  Gov.  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  himself  afterwards  Gover- 
nor of  Connecticut.  The  father  died  at  this  time,  March,  1649,  so  that  we 
have  no  longer  his  reliable  journal,  the  last  entry  in  which  is  on  Jan.  11th,  as 
a  guide.  This  book,  with  its  full  and  admirable  notes  by  the  editor,  Hon. 
James  Savage,  is  worth  all  the  other  authorities  on  this  period  of  New  Ea<r- 
laud  history  put  together.  The  lines  of  Milton,  quoted  by  the  translator  of 
the  Decameron,  will  apply  with  greater  force  to  Savage's  Winthrop's  Jour- 
nal:— ■■ 

"  Hither,  as  to  their  fountains,  other  stars 
Kepairing,  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light." 

In  fact  they  all  draw  from  him,  while  Hubbard,  whose  General  History  of 
New  England  was  more  esteemed  when  it  was  less  known,  in  the  only  reliable 
portion?  of  his  work,  copies  verbatim  from  the  MS.  of  Winthrop,  which  was 
not  then  (1680)  printed,  and  carefully  conceals  the  source  of  his  informatiou. 

VOL.   I 15 


226  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  The  Assembly  passed  an  act  taking  possession  of  the 

^^^..^..^  mines  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  England,  and  forbade 
16  4  9.  all  persons  from  interfering  with  the  ore.  The  Clerk  pub- 
lished the  proclamation,  and  the  arms  of  England  and  of 
the  Earl  of  Warwick  were  set  up  at  the  mine.  Closer 
examination  dispelled  the  illusion.  A  more  certain  and 
less  demoralizing  source  of  wealth  has,  within  a  few  years, 
been  developed  in  the  discovery  of  coal  mines  on  the 
island,  now  in  profitable  operation.' 
14.  Special  charters  of  incorporation  were  granted  at  this 

session  to  the  several  towns.  That  of  Providence,  granted 
on  petition  of  the  town,  is  given  by  Judge.  Staples,  and 
follows  closely  the  terms  of  the  colonial  charter.  War- 
wick had  one  of  the  same  date.  The  Portsmouth  records 
of  their  next  town  meeting  held  for  the  election  of  officers,*^ 
refer  to  "  the  particular  charter  granted  unto  them  for 
choosing  their  town  oflScers."  A  similar  one  must  have 
been  given  to  Newport  at  the  same  time. 
w  The  intolerance  of  the   General  Court  of  Massachu- 

2.  setts  was  again  shown  towards  Randal  Holden,  who  peti- 
tioned that  his  sentence  of  banishment  might  be  revoked, 
to  enable  him  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  some  bus- 
iness that  required  his  presence  in  Boston.  The  favor 
was  refused,  and  he  was  informed  that  his  affairs  could 
be  as  well  conducted  by  an  attorney  as  by  himself.^ 
22.  The  regular  session  of  the   Court  of  Commissioners 

was  held  at  Warwick  and  lasted  four  days..  John  Smith 
of  Warwick  was  chosen  President ;  Thomas  Olney  of 
Providence,  John  Sandford  of  Portsmouth,  John  Clarke 

'  An  account  of  these  mines  with  the  causes  of  their  failure  when  first 
opened,  and  the  reasons  for  their  subsequent  success,  is  given  by  Dr.  Jackson 
in  his  Report  on  the  Geological  Survey  of  Rhode  Island,  made  in  184(1,  p. 
95-104.  Since  the  date  of  this  Report  the  business  has  been  revived,  and  is 
now  conducted  with  profitable  results. 

^  On  first  Monday  of  June,  1649. 

=  M.  C.  R.,  ii.  275. 


FRAUDULENT  VOTING. SALE  OF  SPIRITS  FORBIDDEN.  227 

of  Newport,  and  Samuel  Gorton  of  Warwick,  Assistants  ;   chap. 
John  Clarke  Treasurer,  and  Richard  Knight,  Sergeant.        _,_ 

Already  had  fraudulent  voting,  the  bane  of  all  free  1|^49 
governments,  appeared  in  the  colony.  The  system  of  22 
proxies  afforded  facilities  for  this,  which  it  was  attempted 
to  prevent  by  requiring  that  no  one  should  bring  any 
votes  that  he  did  not  receive  from  the  voters'  own  hands, 
and  that  all  votes  should  be  filed  by  the  Recorder  in  pres- 
ence of  the  Assembly.  The  fall  in  the  price  of  beaver  in 
England,  and  the  increased  manufacture  of  peage  by  the 
Indians,  had  reduced  the  value  of  that  currency  nearly 
one-half.  The  depreciation  was  not  so  great  in  Rhode 
Island,  where  this  medium  continued  to  be  used  much 
lono-er  than  in  the  other  colonies,  but  a  law  was  passed 
lowering  the  standard  of  black  peage,  which  was  double 
the  value  of  the  white,  one-third.  Four,  instead  of  three, 
for  a  penny  was  now  made  the  legal  rate.  Prisons  were 
ordered  to  be  built  in  each  town  ;  meanwhile  the  one  at 
Newport  was  used  for  the  whole  colony,  and  the  General 
Sergeant  was  appointed  to  keep  it.  The  organization  of 
the  Court  of  Trials,  heretofore  composed  of  the  members 
of  Assembly  alone,  was  amended  by  adding  to  it  the  mag- 
istrates of  the  town  where  the  Court  might  be  held.  The 
sale  of  ardent  spirits  to  the  natives  was  forbidden,  except 
that  Mr.  Williams  was  allowed  to  dispense  it,  in  cases  of 
sickness,  at  his  discretion.  This  law  displays  a  commend- 
able regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  an  honora- 
ble confidence  in  the  Founder  of  the  State. 

There  was  a  strong  feeling  in  Rhode  Island  in  favor  of 
Mr.  John  Winthrop,  son  of  the  late  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, who  before  the  Pequot  war  had  made  a  purchase 
near  Thames  river,  which  the  government  of  Connecticut 
had  recently  refused  to  recognize.  It  was  thought  that 
he  might  move  further  east,  perhaps  to  Pawcatuck,  in 
which  case  many  desired  to  make  him  President  of  the 
3olony,  and  his  name  was  used  for  that  purpose  in  this 


228  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

election.  He  had  been  suggested  as  one  of  the  refereua 
in  the  difficulty  with  Portsmouth  the  previous  summer. 
The  liberality  of  the  Winthrops,  often  displayed  by  the 
father  in  his  trying  position  as  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  inherited  by  the  son,  their  close  friendship  with 
the  Founder  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  sympathy  they 
manifested  with  the  struggling  colony  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  all  go  to  account  for  this  partiality. 

The  desire  for  public  service  was  so  little  felt  by  our 
ancestors,  that  heavy  fines  were  imposed'  upon  any  who 
should  refuse  to  accept  an  office.  Any  one  elected  Presi- 
dent, and  declining  to  act,  was  to  be  fined  ten  pounds  ; 
or  an  Assistant  five  pounds,  and  his  place  was  to  be  filled 
by  the  person  having  the  next  highest  number  of  votes. 
A  similar  law  was  enacted  in  the  towns  to  compel  the  ao- 

T         ceptance  of  town  offices.     In  Portsmouth,  whoever  was 
June         ^  ^ 

4.  chosen  to  be  a  magistrate  and  refused  was  fined  sis  pounds, 
and  for  an  inferior  office  the  fine  was  fifty  shillings.  The 
reciprocal  engagement  of  the  State  and  its  officers  was 
also  -administered  to  the  town  councils  in  the  following 
form  :  "  You,  A.  B.,  being  called  and  chosen  by  the  free 
vote  of  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth  unto  the  office  of 
a  town  magistrate,  in  his  Majesty's  name,  do  in  this  pres- 
ent assembly  engage  yourself  faithfully  to  execute  the  of- 
fice of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  the  due  execution  of  jus- 
tice in  this  town,  according  to  the  laws  established  unto 
us  by  our  particular  charter,  according  to  the  best  of  your 
understanding.  The  town  reciprocally  engage  themselves 
in  his  Majesty's  name,  to  maintain  you  in  the  just  execu- 
tion of  your  office,  according  to  the  best  of  their  under- 
standing." The  use  of  the  words  "  in  his  Majesty's 
name,"  in  a  formula  adopted  just  at  this  time  is  peculiar. 
The  King  was  beheaded  on  the  30th  of  January.  News 
of  his  death  had  reached  the  colony  either  while  the  As- 
sembly was  in  session,  or  shortly  before  it  met,  yet  no  no- 
tice was  taken  of  it  by  that  body — possibly  l>ecause  it  yet 


FOURTH  GENERAL  ELECTION.  229 

needed  confirmation.     And  tlds  might  be  the  reason  why  chap. 
the  freemen  of  Portsmouth,  as  a  matter  of  precaution,   ,^,.^_;^ 
retained  the  old  form  of  expression  ;  or  perhaps  that  they  16  49. 
did  so  was  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  predominance  of  the      n^ 
royalist  or  Coddington  jmrty  in  that  town.     The  news  was 
confirmed  by  an  arrival  from  England  the  following  week. 
The  Warwick  men  again  wrote  to  the   Commissioners 

of  the  United  Colonies,  sittino;  at  Boston,  to  complain  of     J^ily 

.26 
the  Indians,  and  to  remind  them  of  the  order  of  Parlia- 
ment that  they  should  be  protected.'  The  Commission- 
ers, in  their  reply,  deny  having  received  any  such  com- 
mand, or  that  the  petitioners  could  reasonably  expect  aid  31. 
in  their  position,  but  say  they  are  ready  to  obey  the  order 
requiring  them  to  ascertain  under  what  patent  the  lands 
of  Warwick  are  included.^ 

The  next  General  Court  of  election  was  held  at  New-  i  g  5  0. 
port  at  the  same  time  with  that  at  Boston.  At  both  bus- 
iness of  great  importance,  affecting  the  relations  of  the 
two  colonies,  was  transacted.  That  there  was  some  diffi- 
culty in  this  election  is  evident  from  the  record  of  a  vote 
that  it  should  "  be  authentic  notwithstanding  all  obstruc-  .-^a^ 
tions  against  it." 

Nicholas  Easton  was  chosen  President  ;  William 
Field  of  Providence,  John  Porter  of  Portsmouth,  John 
Clarke  of  Newport,  and  John  Wicks  of  Warwick,  Assist- 
ants ;  Philip  Sherman,  Kecorder  ;  Richard  Knight,  Ser- 
geant, and  John  Clarke,  Treasurer.  An  Attorney  Gen- 
eral and  Solicitor  General  were  also  appointed,  for  the 
first  time,  and  their  duties  defined.  William  Dyre  was 
chosen  to  the  first-named  office,  and  Hugh  Bewett  to  the 
latter.  The  committee  of  each  town,  which  should  con- 
sist of  six  men,  were  empowered  to  fill  any  vacancy  in 
their  number.  It  was  also  ordered  that  in  case  any  mem- 
ber, upon  complaint  and  trial,  should  prove  to  be  unfit  to 
hold  his   seat,   the    Assembly  might   suspend   him,  and 

» In  the  letter  of  July  22,  164-7,  ante.  '  Hazard,  ii.  135. 


22. 


230  HISTORY   OF  THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

choose  another  in  his  place.  Heretofore  the  Assembly  had 
been  usually  styled  "  the  Court  of  Commissioners/'  the 
term  General  Assembly  aj^plying  only  to  a  meeting  of  all 
the  people  ;  but  we  have  seen  that  gradually  the  legisla- 
tive power  had  centred  in  this  Court,  and  they  now,  for 
the  first  time,  style  themselves  the  General  Assembly, 
and  fix  their  salaries  at  two  and  sixpence  a  day. 

The  order  apportioning  the  amount  of  military  stores 
to  be  kept  by  each  town,  gives  an  idea  of  their  relative 
strength  at  this  period.  Providence  and  Warw'ick  were 
each  to  have  one  barrel  of  powder,  five  hundred  pounds 
of  lead,  six  pikes  and  six  muskets  in  their  magazines,  fit 
for  service.  Portsmouth  was  to  have  twice  this  amount, 
or  as  much  as  both  of  these  towns,  and  Newport  was  to 
have  three  barrels  of  powder,  a  thousand  pounds  of  lead, 
twelve  pikes  and  twenty-four  muskets.  Each  town  was 
to  regulate  its  own  militia. 

By  an  order  of  the  previous  Assembly  letters  had  been 
sent  to  the  Pawtuxet  men,  respecting  their  allegiance  to 
the  colony,  and  a  summons  issued  to  the  sachems  of  Paw- 
tuxet and  Shawomet  to  attend  upon  the  Court.  This 
procedure  led  the  parties  to  petition  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  complaining,  as  usual,  of  injuries  received, 
and  asking  redress.  Upon  this  the  General  Court  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  Khode  Island,  advising  all  whom  it 
concerned,  not  to  prosecute  any  suits  against  the  subjects 
of  Massachusetts,  nor  to  do  them  any  harm  till  they 
should  hear  again  from  the  Court,  which  would  not  be  long. 
June  A  committee  was  appointed  to  treat  with  Plymouth 
about  the  title  to  the  land  of  Shawomet  and  Pawtuxet, 
and  protection  to  the  English  and  Indian  subjects  of  Mas- 
sachusetts at  those  places.  The' Court  adjourned  for  a  few 
days  to  await  the  issue  of  the  negotiation.  The  General 
Court  of  Plymouth  was  then  in  session.  By  a  formal  in- 
strument they  resigned  all  claim  to  the  territory  in  ques- 
tion, yielding  in  every  thing  to  the  proposals  of  Massachu- 


30. 


PLYMOUTH  CEDES  DISPUTED  LANDS  TO  MASSACHUSETTS.  231 

setts,  but  with  one  proviso,  that  does  honor  to  their  sense  chap. 
of  justice,  and  to  their  clearness  of  perception,  viz.,  that  ^  "" 
the  lands  of  Pro\adence  should  not  be  included  in  the  relin- 
quishment, but  should  remain  as  before  to  be  freely  enjoyed 
by  the  inhabitants.  That  Providence  should  be  named 
at  all  in  the  deed  of  cession,  since  it  was  not  referred  to 
in  the  instructions  of  the  Committee,  is  proof  that  Ply- 
mouth suspected,  and  not  without  reason,  that  the  design 
of  Massachusetts  embraced  more  than  she  professed,  and 
by  making  this  exception  she  declared  her  own  opinion  of 
the  rights  of  the  people  in  Providence,  and  barred  any 
claim  that  Massachusetts  might  aftei-ward  set  up  to  that 
territory,  based  upon  the  action  of  Plymouth  in  this  case.' 
The  Court  having  reassembled  at  Boston,  received  the  re- 
port  of  their  committee,  and  proceeded  to  annex  their 
newly-acquired  possessions  to  the  county  of  Suffolk. 
They  also,  in  gratitude  to  Captain  Atherton,  for  his  ser-  20. 
vices  in  this  and  in  the  brutal  affair  with  Pessacus,-  voted 
him  a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres.  The  officers  of  the 
County  Court  were  authorized  to  treat  with  any  of  the 
Warwick  associates  who  might  appear  to  complain  of  this 
outside  disposition  of  themselves  and  their  property. 

There  is  one  question  that  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties to  this  remarkable  transfer  of  land  and  power,  to 
which  neither  had  any  right,  quite  overlooked.  Admit- 
ting that  the  claim  of  either  one  of  them  under  their  pa- 
tents was  valid,  how  could  that  one  lawfully  divest  itself 
of,  or  invest  another  government  with,  a  portion  of  its 
power  ;  or  how  could  the  recipient,  simply  on  the  ground 
that  the  cession  was  voluntary,  enlarge  the  limits  of  its 
own  patent  ?  The  illegality  on  both  sides  is  apparent. 
The  injustice  to  the  rightful  owners  need  not  be  consid- 
ered after  the  outrages  they  had  suffered  seven  years  be- 
fore. 

These  acts  called  for  decisive  action  on  the   part  of 

'  M.  C.  R,  iv.  Part  I.  14-20.  *  Close  of  chap,  vi.,  ante. 


232  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.   Rbode  Island.     The  President  of  the  colony  called  a  con- 
.2^^  vention,  composed  of  a  special  committee  of  three  from  each 
1650.  town,  to  meet  at  Portsmouth,  to  deliherate  on  the  con- 
'2^;      duct  of  Massachusetts  in  the  premises.     No  report  of  their 
proceedings  can  be  found.     But  these  convenient  inter- 
changes of  jurisdiction  were  not  yet  ended.     The  Com- 
missioners of  the  United  Colonies  advised,  for  many  co- 
Sept,    g^iit  reasons,  that  Warwick  and  Pawtuxet  should  1^.6  re- 
1^-      stored  to  Plymouth.'     The   General  Court  yielded  the 
ig '     point,  and  re-assigned  the  territory  to  Plymouth.*^     Pres- 
ident Easton  had  written  to  Massachusetts  that  Rhode 
Island  and  Warwick  now  formed   one   colony,'  and  would 
defend  her  rights.     Letters  were  sent  to  Rhode  Island, 
^^'     forbidding  her  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  Shawomet,  to 
the  Pawtuxet  men  to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  Ply- 
mouth, and  to  Gov.  Bradford  that  he  should  protect  them 
and  the  subject  Indians. 
26.  The  General  Assembly  met  at  Portsmouth.     The  or- 

der })rescribing  the  mode  of  passing  general  laws  was  re- 
pealed and  a  new  one  made.  The  Assembly,  or  ''  Repre- 
sentative Committee,"  as  it  is  here  termed,  having  enacted 
any  laws,  these  were  to  be  sent  to  the  towns  within  six 
days  after  the  adjournment,  and  then,  within  three  days, 
to  be  read  in  town  meeting.  Any  freeman  who  dishked 
the  laws  or  any  one  of  them,  was  to  send  his  vote,  with 
his  name  U]:ion  it,  within  ten  days  after  the  reading,  to 
the  General  Recorder.  If  a  majority  were  found  to  op- 
pose it  the  Recorder  should  signify  the  fact  to  the  Presi- 
dent, and  the  President  to  the  towns,  that  such"  law  was 
annulled.  Silence  as  to  the  rest  was  considered  assent. 
Banishment,  as  a  punishment,  was  abolished.  Divorce 
was  prohibited  except,  at  the  suit  of  the  party  aggrieved, 
for  adultery. 

Roger  Williams  was  urged  once  more  to  go  to  Eng- 
land.    The  active  measures  taken  by  the  other  colonies 

'  Hazard  ii.  153-'4.  "  M.  C.  R.  iii.  216. 


FRESH  TROUBLES  THREATEN  THE  COLONY.  233 

in  regard  to  Warwick  and  Pawtuxet,  required  that  Khode  chap. 
Island  should  be  represented  before  the  Committee  of    JJJ^ 
Plantations.       The   sum   of  one   hundred    pounds  voted   l  6  5  c 
three  years  before,  in  remuneration  of  his  services  in  ob-      ^q 
taining  the  charter,  had  never  been  paid,   although  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  raise  the  money  by  taxation. 
The   Assembly  now  voted  to  pay  the   arrears,   and  one 
hundred  pounds  more,  if  he  would  go  a  second  time,  but 
if  he  would  not,  Mr.  Balston,  John  Clarke  and  John  War- 
ner were  named,  any  two  of  them  to  go. 

This  was  the  last  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  as 
at  first  constituted,  under  the  charter.  A  more  serious 
calamity  than  any  that  the  malice  or  the  ambition  of  her 
neighbors  could  inflict,  was  about  to  overwhelm  the  State, 
and  for  a  time  to  palsy  the  arm  of  the  sons  of  Rhode 
Island.  -,  ^  -  -, 

In  the  following  spring  there  was  no  meeting  of  the  May 
Assembly.  News  of  Coddington's  design  had  been  re- 
ceived, althouo;h  his  success  was  not  vet  known.  Con- 
sternation  pervaded  the  colony.  Within  and  without,  at 
home  and  abroad,  enemies  to  the  peace  and  Hberty  of  the 
State  appeared  on  every  side.  The  Pawtuxet  men  com- 
plained to  Massachusetts  that  Providence  had  assessed 
them  to  the  amount  of  twelve  pounds  ten  shillings,  and 
on  their  refusal  to  pay  the  tax  had  threatened  them  with 
distraint.  Upon  this  the  General  Court  sent  a  letter  to  22. 
Koger  WilliaDis,  warning  him  that  if  this  levy  was  made 
they  would  seek  satisfaction  '"'  in  such  manner  as  God 
shall  put  into   their  hands."'     Amid  these   complicated 

^  M.  C.  R.  iii.  228,  and  iv.  part.  i.  i&.  There  could  be  no  mistaking  the 
meaning  of  this.  Tlie  Puritans  in  their  dealings  with  their  weaker  neigh- 
bors, English  or  Indians,  evidently  believed  with  the  Great  Frederick,  that 
"  Providence  favors  the  strong  battalions."  Their  reliance  upon  Divine  aid 
in  all  their  forays,  attempted  or  threatened,  into  Rhode  Island,  was  of  that 
eommendably  precautionary  character  displayed  by  Cromwell  in  the  order  to 
his  troops  at  "  the  crowning  mercy  of  Worcester,"  which  was  fought  on  a 
rainy  day — "  Tnist  in  God  but  keep  your  powder  dry ! "' 


10. 


234  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    difficulties,  an  outrage  was  committed  upon  some  of  the 
^^^-^.l^  best  men  of  Rhode  Island,  wluch  is  without  a  parallel 
1651.  save   in    the  treatment  of  the   Gortonists.      Rev.  John 
Clarke,  pastor  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in   Newport, 
Obadiah  Holmes,  who  shortly  before  had  aided  to  estab- 
lish a  church  of  that  order  in   Seekonk,  and,  being  pre- 
sented for  it  by  the  grand  jury  at  the  General  Court  of 
jyj^     Plymouth,  had  fled  to  Newport,'   and  John   Crandall,  a 
16.      member  of  the  same  church,  were  deputed  by  the, church 
to  visit  an  aged  member,  residing  near  Lynn,  who  had  re- 
quested an  interview  with  some  of  his  brethren.     Arriv- 
ing at  the  place  on  Saturday,  Mr.   Clarke  preached  the 
next  day  to  those  who  were  in  the  house.     While  thus 
20.      engaged  two  constables  served  on  them  a  warrant  for  the 
arrest  of  the  "  erroneous  persons,  being  strangers."     In 
the  afternoon  they  were  carried  to  church  by  the  officer, 
where,  after  service,  Clarke  addressed  the  congregation 
till  silenced  by  a  magistrate.     Next  day,  although  being 
under  arrest,  he  administered  the  communion  to  the  aged 
oc)      member. of  his  church  and  to  two  others.     The  party  were 
examined  and  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Boston,  where  they 
25.     were  imprisoned  to  await  their  trial  the  following  week. 
At  the  trial  Gov.  Endicott  charged  them  with  being  ana- 
baptists.    Clarke  denied  that  he  was  either  an  anabaptist, 
a  pedobaptist,  or  a  catabaptist,  and  affirmed,  that   al- 
though ho  had  baptized  many  he  had  never  re-baptized 
any,  for  that  infant  baptism  was  a  nullity.     The  others 
agreed  in  this,  and  the  Court  sentenced  them  upon  their 
own  declarations,  '"  without  producing  either  accuser,  wit- 
ness, jury,  law  of  God,  or  man."     Clarke  was  fined  twenty 
pounds,  Holmes  thirty  pounds,  and  Crandall  five  pounds, 
and  in  default  of  payment  each  was  "to  be  well  whipped." 
They  refused  to  pay  the  fine,  as  that  would  be  to  admit 
their  guilt  when  they  felt  they  were  innocent,  and  were 

'  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Clarke  he  succeeded  him  as  pastor  of  the  New- 
port church.     Knowles',  239,  note. 


81. 


PERSECUTION    OF    THE    BAPTISTS.  235 

committed  to  prison.     On  the  following  day  Clarke,  by  a   chap. 

•  V  T  T 

letter  to  the  Court,  challenged  the  members  to  a  discus- 
sion of  the  doctrinal  views  for  which  he  had  been  con- 
demned. The  magistrates  appointed  a  time  for  the  de- 
bate. Clarke  prepared  the  heads  of  discussion,  but  be- 
fore the  day  arrived  an  order  of  Court  was  sent  to  the  jail 
for  his  discharge,  the  fine  having  been  paid  by  some  one  n 
without  his  knowledge.  Anxious  to  hold  the  debate,  and 
seeing  how  this  ill-timed  kindness  might  be  represented 
as  being  caused  by  his  desire  to  avoid  it,  Clarke,  on  the 
same  day,  renewed  the  challenge,  offering  to  come  to  Boston 
at  any  time  they  might  name.  In  their  reply  the  Court 
seemed  to  accept  the  invitation,  but  fixed  no  time.  Cotton 
was  to  be  the  chosen  champion  of  Puritan  theology — the 
man  of  all  others,  as  the  leader  of  their  church,  with 
whom  Clarke  most  desired  to  meet,  and  to  discuss  the  two 
great  principles  of  Baptist  faith,  voluntary  baptism  and 
individual  responsibility.  These  were  the  two  grand 
points  upon  which  Church  and  State  in  Massachusetts 
were  .antagonist  to  the  sentiment  of  Rhode  Island.  But 
although  Mr.  Clarke  a  third  time  notified  the  Court  of  his  ^^ 
readiness,  they  failed  to  appoint  a  day,  so  that  the  debate 
was  never  held,  Crandall  was  allowed  to  go  home  on 
bail,  the  jailer  being  his  surety.  Holmes  was  so  cruelly 
whipped,  receiving  thirty  lashes  with  a  three-corded  whip 
from  the  public  executioner,  that  for  many  days  he  could  g^pj^ 
take  no  rest  except  by  supporting  himself  on  his  elbows  5. 
and  knees.  Two  of  the  spectators,  one  an  old  man  named 
Hazel,  who  had  come  from  Seekonk,  fifty  miles,  to  visit 
him  in  prison,  were  arrested  for  shaking  hands  with  him 
after  the  punishment  was  over,  and  were  sentenced  to  pay 
a  fine  or  to  be  whipped.  The  fine  was  paid  by  their 
Iriends,  but  Hazel  died  before  reaching  home.' 

'  See  ni  Xewes  from  New  England,  by  John  Clarke,  London,  1652,  4to., 
76  pp.  The  writer  consulted  the  copy  in  the  British  Museum.  This  very 
scarce  work  by  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  seventeenth  century,   and  a 


236  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.         Thus  severely  was  the  savage  law  of  1644,  against 
,^_^  the  anabaptists,  carried  out  by  magistrates  and  ministers, 
1651.  who  shunned  a  discussion  of  the  doctrines  which  they  ig- 
norantly  denounced. 

founder  of  Rhode  Island,  has  lately  been  reprinted  by  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,, 
in  the  2d  vol.  of  the  4th  series  of  their  Collections.  » 


ABEIVAL    OF    CODDINGTON   IN   ENGLAND.  2S'7 


16  46. 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

1651—1663. 

FROM  THE  USURPATION  OF  CODDINGTOJf,  AUGUST,  1651,  TO  THE 
ADOPTION  OF  THE  ROYAL  CHARTER,  NOVEMBER,  1663. 

When  Coddington  arrived  in  England  the  King  was  (j^^p^ 
already  beheaded,  the  House  of  Lords  had  been  voted  ^'^^^• 
useless,  the  Commonwealth  was  declared,  and  the  supreme  i  6  4  'J. 
power  vested  in  the  hands  of  forty  persons  as  a  Coun- 
cil of  State.  A  revolution  as  complete  had  taken  place 
in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Episcopacy  had  been  abolished 
three  years  before  ;  the  Directory  had  supplanted  ihe 
Liturgy  ;  a  greater  part  of  the  livings  were  distributed 
among  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  and  finally  Presbyterian- 
ism  was  established  by  act  of  Parliament  as  the  national 
faith.  The  new  church  were  as  tenacious  of  their  "  di- 
vine right,"  as  ever  the  old  one  had  been.  The  rights  of 
conscience  were  as  little  understood  or  respected  by  Pres- 
byterians as  by  Prelatists.  Toleration  was  denied  to  the 
Independents  by  both  alike.  Humanity  gained  nothing 
by  the  change  till  the  master-spirit  of  Cromwell  curbed 
the  persecuting  will  of  these  Protestant  Papists.  For 
two  years  the  efforts  of  Coddington  were  without  result. 
More  momentous  concerns  than  any  that  related  to  distant 
plantations  employed  the  Council.  At  length  he  obtained  ^  e  5 1. 
a  hearing.     By  what  representations,  or  through  what  in- 


1649 


?M^8  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  fluence  he  succeeded  in  virtually  undoing  the  acts  of  the 
Long  Parliament  in  favor  of  Rhode  Island,  we  can  never 
know.  He  obtained  from  the  Council  of  State  a  com- 
mission, signed  by  John  Bradshaw,  to  govern  the  islands 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Connanicut  during  his  life,  with  a 
council  of  six  men,  to  be  named  by  the  people  and  ap- 
proved by  himself.     With  this  authoritative  document 

Aug.  i^g  returned  home  to  sever  the  islands  from  the  main  land 
towns,  and  to  be  in  effect  the  autocrat  of  the  fairest  and 
wealthiest  portion  of  the  State.  Great  was  the  alarm 
felt  throughout  the  colony,  more  especially  by  the  large 
party  in  the  now  subjected  islands  who,  being  opposed  to 
Coddington,  found  themselves,  as  they  thought,  at  the 
mercy  of  a  dictator.  This  party  at  once  prepared  to  send 
John  Clarke  to  England,  to  obtain  a  revocation  of  Cod- 
dington's  powers.  Providence  and  "Warwick  recognized 
the  peril  to  which  their  charter  was  exposed,  and  has- 
tened the  departure  of  Roger  Williams  to  secure  to  them 

Sept.  again  the  rights  he  had  first  obtained.  William  Arnold, 
•'••  one  of  the  Massachusetts  subjects  at  Pawtuxet,  wrote  to 
the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  to  inform  them 
of  this  movement,  that  Warwick  had  already  raised  one 
hundred  pounds,  and  men  in  Providence  were  giving  ten 
or  twenty  pounds  apiece  to  sjjced  the  object  of  Williams' 
mission.  John  Greene,  in  behalf  of  Warwick,  the  same 
day  officially  notified  the  Commissioners,  that  as  the 
United  Colonies  had  failed  to  conform  to  the  order  of 
Parliament  to  protect  them,  but  as  they  "  were  bought 
and  sold  from  one  patent  and  jurisdiction  to  another,"  had 
been  threatened  with  expulsion  since  the  above  order  was 
received,  summoned  to  attend  Courts  in  Massachusetts, 
deprived  of  trade,  and  exposed  to  violence  from  both  Eng- 
lish and  Indians,  therefore  they  should  send  a  messenger 
to  England  to  obtain  redress,  and  the  United  Colonies 
might  instruct  their  agents  accordingly  to  prepare  their 
answers.      This  official  notice  was  a  gratuitous  act  of 


WILLIAMS    AND    CLARKE    PROCEED    TO    ENGLAND.  239 

courtesy  on  the  part  of  Warwick  that  was  not  appreciated  chap. 
by  the  Commissioners.  ^^-L 

The  United  Colonies  coldly  recognized  the  commission  1651 
of  Coddington,  and  addressed  him  a  letter  inquiring  what  ""^g  " 
course  he  would  pursue  as  to  fugitives  from  justice  ; 
whether  he  would  return  them  on  legal  demand,  or  bring 
them  to  trial  on  the  island.  The  Warwick  letter  caused 
much  discussion.  The  Massachusetts  members  of  the 
Commission  presented  a  declaration  on  the  subject,  to 
which  those  of  Plymouth  replied,  disowning  the  cession 
made  to  Massachusetts  the  previous  year,  and  protesting 
against  the  seizures  she  had  made  at  Shawomet  and 
Pawtuxet.  The  other  members,  on  the  ground  that  Ply- 
mouth had  refused  to  accept  the  transfer  made  by  Massa- 
chusetts, recognized  the  claim,  of  the  latter,  and  concluded 
that  trespasses  committed  by  the  Warwick  men  should 
be  punished  by  f  )rce  if  necessary,  "  but  with  as  much 
moderation  as  may  be."  ^ 

A  General  Assembly  of  the  two  remaining  towns  was  Oct. 
called,  at  which  Samuel  Gorton  was  chosen  President. 
Roger  Williams  was  urged,  by  every  consideration  that 
could  move  him  in  such  a  crisis,  to  leave  home  to  advo- 
cate the  cause  of  the  colony  in  England.  On  the  island 
forty-one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth,  and  sixty- 
five,  being  nearly  all  of  the  freemen,  in  Newj)ort,  joined 
to  persuade  Dr.  Clarke  to  go  out  and  obtain  a  repeal  of 
Coddington's  commission.  They  both  consented  to  go. 
Mr.  Williams  was  obliged  to  sell  his  trading-house  in 
Narraganset,  to  sustain  his  family  during  his  absence. 
The  objects  of  their  missions  were  distinct.  Clarke  was 
the  agent  of  the  island  towns,  to  procure  a  repeal  of 
Coddington's  commission.  Williams  was  the  agent  of 
the  main  land  towns,  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  their 
charter.  In  effect  the  same  result  was  aimed  at  and  se- 
cured— a  return  to  their  former  mode  of  government  by 
'  Hazard's  State  Papers,  ii.  198-203. 


240  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

a  reunion  under  the  charter.  The  two  agents  sailed  to- 
gether, with  some  difficulty  securing  leave  to  embark  from 
Boston. 

The  Court  of  Commissioners,  the  relic  of  the  colonial 
Assembly,  being  the  committees  of  Providence  and.  War- 
wick, met  at  Providence  to  consult  on  the  state  of  the 
colony.  They  resolved  to  continue  under  the  charter, 
making  laws  and  choosing  officers  as  before.  They  re- 
enacted  several  laws,  modified  to  meet  their  present  con- 
dition, and  also  passed  an  act  forbidding  the  purchase  of 
land  from  the  Indians,  without  consent  of  the  State, 
165  2.         Williams  and  Clarke  presented  a  joint  petition  to  the 

■A-pril    Council  of  State,  which  was  referred  to  the  committee  on 
8 

foreign  affairs.     The  island  meanwhile  quietly  submitted 

to  the  rule  of  Coddington.     The  main  land  towns  held 

May     their  regular   Court  of  Election  in  the   spring.      John 

^^'      Smith  was  chosen  President  of  the  colony  ;  Thomas  01- 

ney  of  Providence,  Samuel  Gorton  of  Warwick,  General 

Assistants  ;  John  Greene,  jr..  Recorder  ;  Eandall  Holden, 

Treasurer  ;  and  Hugh  Bewett,  Sergeant. 

At  this  session  the  famous  law  against  slavery  was 
passed,  believed  to  be,  with  one  exception,'  the  first  leg- 
islative enactment  in  the  history  of  this  continent,  If  not 
of  the  world,  for  the  suppression  of  involuntary  servitude. 
This  law  was  designed  to  prevent  both  negro  and  white 
slavery,  each  of  which  was  in  use  at  that  time.  By  it  no 
man  could  be  held  to  service  more  than  ten  years  from 
the  time  of  his  coming  into  the  colony,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  was  to  be  set  free.  Whoever"  refused  tc 
let  him  go  free,  or  sold  him  elsewhere  for  a  longer  period 
of  slavery,  was  subject  to  a  penalty  of  forty  pounds. 

Between  Rhode  Island  and  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan, 
there  existed  quite  an  active  trade,  and  occasional  inter- 
marriages resulted  from  the  intercourse  thus  maintained. 
A  serious  disturbance  occurred  at  this  time  in  Warwick. 

'  The  Act  of  Massachusetts,  4th  Nov.,  IG46,  in  2  M.  C.  R.,  IG8. 


DUTCH    DISTURBANCE    AT   WARWICK.  241 

The  crew  of  a  small  Dutch  vessel  which  had  arrived  there   chap. 
in  January,  on  a  trading  voyage,  boarded  for  some  two    ^^^^• 
months  with  John  Warner,   who  was  this  year  the  As-     1652. 
sistant    or    second    magistrate   of    the    town,    and    had 
stored  their  goods  in  his  house  for  sale.      One  of  these 
men,  named  Geraerd,  was  a  connection  of  Warner,  both 
having    married   into   the  family  of  Ezekiel   Holliman. 
Upon   settling  their  accounts  a  dispute  arose,  which  it 
was  vainly  attempted  to  adjust  by  arbitration,  and  the 
Dutchmen  appealed  to  the  Court.     At  their  request  a    ^  j^jj 
special  session  was  held.     Warner  refused  to  answer  to 
the  case,  and  judgment  was  entered  against  him  by  de- 
fault, and  execution  granted  for  the  damages  assessed  by 
a  jury.     Warner's  wife  was  also  indicted  upon  suspicion 
of  felony,  and  the  case  carried  up  to  the  General  Court  of 
trials  for  the  colony.     The  conduct  of  Warner  before  and      24. 
at  this  trial  was  so  bad  that  he  was  degraded  from  his 
office  as  Assistant  and  disfranchised.     A  copy  of  the  dec- 
laration was  sent  to  Providence,  and  also  to  Massachu- 
setts, and  the  whole  proceedings  upon  the  case  were  after- 
wards forwarded  to  Roger  Williams  in  England.     A  few     , 

»     ^  ,  ,  o  June 

weeks   later,    "  upon  suspicion  of   insufferable  treachery      7. 
against  the  town,"  which  is  conveyed  in  the  seventh  item 
of  the  declaration,  his  house  and  lands  were  attached. 
For  want  of  proof  the  property  was  shortly  released,  but     jjjjy 
not  without  a  formal  protest  being  entered  upon  the  rec-       5. 
ords  by  the  leading  men  of  the  town.     The  proceedings 
are  so  remarkable,  and  the  form  of  the  declaration,  re- 
sembling somewhat  the  indictment  against  Gorton/  is  so 
curious  that  they  should  be  preserved.^ 

The  war  between  England  and  Holland  having  com-     -^ 
menced,  the  Dutch  were  forbidden  to  trade  with  the  In-      19. 
dians  in  the  colony,  and  the  President  was  instructed  to 
notify  the  Governor  of  Manhattan  ^  of  this  prohibition. 

*  Ante,  chap.  vi.  p.  170.  '  See  Appendix  B. 

*  Peter  Stuyvesant.     This  prohibition  waa  repealed  in  May,  1657. 

VOL.  I. — 16 


242  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP    Letters  from  Roger  Williams  caused  a  town  meeting  tc 

_^_;^  be  held  in  Providence,  at  which  a  letter  was  directed  to 

165  2.  be  sent  to  Warwick,  proposing  a  meeting  of  Commission- 

'27^     ers  to  prepare  suitable  replies.     The  town  of  Warwick 

agreed  to  the  proposal,  and  further  suggested  a  conference 

29.      with  the  island  towns,  with  a  view  to  their  all  uniting  to 

obtain  a  renewal  of  the   charter,  as  such  united  action 

would  remove  some  obstacles  then  existing,  by  reason  of 

the  separate  duties  of  the  two  agents,  and  would, -also  help 

to  secure  to  the  colony  the   Narraganset  country,  which 

^y„     the   Greenwich  men  were  striving  to  obtain.     A  meeting 

2.       was  accordingly  held,  but  no  record  of  it  remains. 

Another  letter  from  Mr.  Williams,  saying  that  the 
8.  Council  had  granted  leave  to  the  colony  to  go  on  under 
the  charter  until  the  controversy  was  decided,  gave  great 
satisfaction.  A  few  days  later  an  order  of  Council  was 
2  ■  issued  vacating  the  commission  of  Coddington,  and  direct- 
ing the  towns  again  to  unite  under  the  charter.  The 
mission  was  successful  at  every  jjoint.  The  agents  re- 
mained- in  England  on  their  private  business,  and  also  to 
sustain  the  rights  of  the  colony,  while  William  Dyre,  who 
had  probably  gone  out  with  them,  returned  home  with  the 
joyful  news. 

The  General  Assembly  met  at  Providence,  and  passed 
two  important  acts,  an  alien  and  a  libel  law.  By  the 
former  no  foreigner  was  to  be  received  as  a  freeman  in  any 
town,  or  to  have  any  trade  with  the  Indians,  but  by  con- 
sent of  the  Assembly.  The  latter  made  disparaging  lan- 
guage, spoken  in  malice,  actionable  in  every  town.  The^ 
also  wrote  to  Roger  Williams  a  letter  of  thanks  for  his 
services,  the  successful  result  of  which  was  not  yet  known 
to  them,  and  proposed  that  he  should  get  himself  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  the  colony  for  one  year,  as  it  would 
give  weight  to  the  government.  This  proposal  affords  the 
Btrongest  proof  of  the  respect  and  confidence  felt  in  the 
colony  towards  its  illustrious  Founder.      But  Williams 


28. 


TRIAL    OF    BEWETT    FOR    HIGH    TREASON.  243 

had  little  desire  for  power.     Such  a  course  would  have  chap 

•  V  T  T  T 

established  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  might  appear  to  _,^ 
take  from  the  colony  a  portion  of  its  liberty  in  the  selec-  1652. 
tion  of  oflScers.  They  also  wrote  a  letter  to  the  town  of 
Warwick,  where  doubts  had  been  expressed  as  to  the  le- 
gality of  the  Assembly,  protesting  against  such  expres- 
sions as  tending  to  discredit  the  authority  of  the  Assem- 
bly, thereby  weakening  the  government,  and  likewise  af- 
firming both  the  validity  of  the  committee  chosen  from 
Warwick,  and  the  legality  of  the  Court.  The  occasion 
for  such  a  letter  displays  the  lamentable  distraction  that 
pervaded  the  colony  at  this  time. 

A  more  serious  cause  of  dissension  led  to  a  special    I^^c. 

20 
meeting   of  the    Court    of   Commissioners  at   Warwick. 

The  President  of  the  colony  and  the  Warwick  Assistant, 
upon  an  examination  before  the  Court  of  Trials,  charged 
Hugh  Bewett,  one  of  the  committee  from  Providence, 
with  hio'h  treason.  The  trial  lasted  four  davs,  and  re- 
suited  in  the  acquittal  of  the  prisoner,  thus  reversing  the 
decision  of  the  Court  of  Trials,  and  thereby  increasing  the 
divisions  in  the  colony.  The  grounds  of  the  indictment 
cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  WilUam  Dyre  from  England,  with   ig52-3. 
the  repeal  of   Coddington's    power,  he  wrote    letters  to     Feb. 
Warwick  and  to  Providence,  naming  a  day  when  he  would 
meet  all  the  freemen  w^ho  chose  to  appear  at  Portsmouth, 
to  communicate  the  orders  of  the   Council  of  State.     A      20. 
town  meeting  was  held  in  Providence,  at  which,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  request  from  Warwick,^  a  meeting  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  two  towns   was  agreed  upon.     It 
was  held  at  Pawtuxet  the  following  week.     This  Assem- 
bly drafted  a  reply  to  a  letter  from  the  island,  relating  to 
a  reunion  of  the  colony,  and  appointed  two  of  the  mem- 
bers from  each  town  to  carry  it,  and  to  consult  with  those 
of  the  island  concerning  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the 

*  Warwick  records  of  22d  P'ebruary,  1652. 


244  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

State.  Their  labor  was  fruitless.  The  point  of  difficulty 
was  this.     The  mainland  towns  contended  that  they  were 

1652-3.  the   Providence   Plantations,  their  charter  never  having 

Feb.  . 

been  vacated,  and  their  government  having  continued  un- 
interrupted by  the  defection  of  the  island,  and  therefore 
the  General  Assembly  to  hear  the  orders  of  Council, 
should  be  held  with  them.  The  island  towns  claimed 
that  as  they  formed  the  greater  part  of  the  colopy,  and 
hence  had  a  larger  interest  in  the  matter,  the_.  Assembly 
should  meet  there.  The  original  letters  from  the  Council 
of  State  were  deposited  by  Dyre  with  the  town  clerk  of 
Newport,  from  whom  certified  copies  were  obtained,  after 
some  trouble,  by  the  other  towns.     Neither  party  was  dis- 

March  posed  to  yield.  On  the  following  Monday  an  Assembly 
^-  of  the  colony,  as  it  was  called,  met  at  Portsmouth,  "  to 
hear  and  receive  the  orders  from  y*  right  Honorable  y' 
Council  of  State."  The  officers  who  had  been  displaced 
by  Coddington's  commission  were  reinstated  until  the 
next  election,  which  was  appointed  for  the  usual  time. 
Proposals  for  reunion,  and  for  the  government  of  the  col- 
ony till  the  ensuing  election,  were  sent  to  Providence  by 
jg  the  town  of  Newport.  The  mainland  towns  replied  that 
they  were  ready  to  meet  by  Commissioners,  and  desired 
the  island  to  ajjpoint  the  time,  to  arrange  all  matters. 
They  did  not  accept  the  terms  proposed  by  Newport,  nor 
was  any  meeting  of  Commissioners  appointed  by  the 
island.  The  division  therefore  continued  for  another  year, 
to  the  imminent  peril  of  the  liberties  of  the  colony  and  of 
its  internal  peace. 

Two  distinct  Assemblies  convened  for  a  general  elec- 
^jjy '  tion  at  the  same  time.     That  of  the  mainland  towns  met 

16-17.  at  Providence,  the  other  at  Newport,  each  sitting  for  two 
days.  By  the  former  a  letter  was  sent  to  the  island,  giv- 
ing as  a  reason  why  they  did  not  meet  with  them,  that 
the  island  had  not  given  any  notice  of  agreement  to  meet 
them  by  Commissioners,  and  hence  they  must  proceed 


TWO    DISTINCT    ASSEMBLIES. — NEW    ENGAGEMENT.  245 

with  their  own  election  as  before.     They  chose  Gregory  chap. 
Dexter,  President  ;  Stiikely  Westcott,  General  Assistant   .__^_1, 
for  Warwick  ;  John  Sayles,  General  Assistant  for  Provi-  16  5  3. 
dence,  and  Treasurer  ;  John  Greene,  Recorder,  and  Hugh  16-I7, 
Bewitt,  Sergeant.     The  Council  of  State  having  directed 
the  colony  to  annoy  the  Dutch,  with  whom  war  had  been 
declared,  it  was  ordered  that  no  provisions  should  be  sent 
to  the  Dutch  ;  that  each  plantation  should  prepare  for  its 
defence  ;  and  that  no  seizures  of  Dutch  property  should 
be  made  in  the  name  of  the  colony  without  a  commission 
from  the  General  Court.     All  legal  process  was  to  issue 
in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  and  in 
Providence  and  Warwick  an  engagement  in  these  words 
was  subscribed  upon  their  records  : — "  I  do  declare  and 
promise  that  I  will  be  true  aijd  faithful  to  the  Common- 
wealth of  England,  as  it  is  now  established,  without  a 
Kinge  or  House  of  Lords."  ' 

The  enemies  of  Rhode  Island  afterwards  sought  to 
injure  her  position  with  the  King  on  account  of  this  en- 
gagement, but  did  not  succeed.  The  only  policy  that 
Rhode  Island  could  adopt  was  that  which  is  pursued  at 
this  day  by  the  United  States  in  its  intercourse  with  for- 
eign countries,  to  acknowledge  the  government  de  facto. 
To  that  government,  whether  royalist,  republican,  or  prOp 
tectorate,  she  was  always  loyal,  and  her  success  from  that 
cause  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  her  Puritan  opponents, 
whose  professions  of  loyalty  to  the  Kings  were  equally 
loud  and  much  less  sincere. 

The  Assembly  at  Newport  elected  John  Sandford, 
sen..  President  ;  Nicholas  Easton  of  Newport,  and  Robert  17-18. 
Borden  of  Portsmouth,  Assistaiits  ;  William  Lytherland, 
Recorder  ;  Richard  Knight,  Sergeant  ;  John  Coggeshall, 
Treasurer,  and  John  Easton,  Attorney  General.  They 
re-established  the  code  of  1647,  and  gave  liberty  to  the 
mainland  towns  to  choose  their  own  General  Assistants, 

'  Warwick  records,  8th  March,  1652-3. 


J46  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND; 

in  case  they  decided  to  unite  "with  the  island.  The  next 
day  some  freemen  from  Providence  and  Warwick  came  to 
the  Assembly,  and  an  election  for  Assistants  of  those 
towns  was  made,  Thomas  Olney  was  chosen  for  Provi- 
dence, and  Randal  Holden  for  Warwick,  thus  making  two 
sets  of  Assistants  for  the  mainland  towns,  and  raising  a 
question  of  conflicting  powers  to  render  the  difficulties 
yet  more  complicated. 

Mr.  Coddington,  upon  demand  of  the  Assembly  to 
surrender  the  statute  book  and  records,  declined  to  do  so 
without  advice  from  his  CouncU,  having  received  no  order 
from  England  to  resign  his  commission,  or '  any  proof,  as 
he  said,  that  it  had  been  annulled.  A  more  inextricable 
series  of  entanglements  than  now  existed  in  the  colony 
could  not  well  be  imagined. 

Active  measures  were  taken  against  the  Dutch.  Can- 
non and  smaller  arms,  and  twenty  volunteers  were  voted 
for  the  aid  of  the  English  on  Long  Island.  Commissions 
to  act  against  the  enemy  were  granted  to  Capt.  John  Un- 
derbill, Wilham  Dyre  and  Edward  Hull,  and  a  Court  of 
Admiralty  for  the  trial  of  prizes  was  appointed,  consisting 
of  the  general  officers  and  three  jurors  from  each  town. 
The  island  was  more  energetic  than  the  mainland  in 
these  measures,  assuming  at  once  offensive  ground,  while 
the  latter  acted  chiefly  on  the  defensive.  Both  did  more 
than  the  United  Colonies,  who,  although  they  had  re- 
ceived similar  orders  from  the  Council  of  State,  were  more 
prudent,  if  not  lukewarm,  in  their  conduct.  This  mili- 
tary proclivity  in  Rhode  Island  was  early  shown.  Their 
exposed  position  made  it  necessary  on  account  of  the  In- 
dians in  the  first  instance,  and  long  habit  cultivated  the 
martial  spirit  of  the  people  till  it  became  a  second  nature. 
Their  maritime  advantages  favored  commercial  enter- 
prise, and  the  two  combined  prepared  them  for  those 
naval  exploits  which  in  after  years  shed  so  much  glory  on 
the  State.     That  the  bold  proceedings  of  the  Island  As- 


CONTINUED    DISSENSIONS   IN    THE    COLONY.  247 

sembly  were  considered  rash  by  the  rest  of  the  colony,   chap 

appears  from  a  remonstrance  made  by  the  Court  of  Com-   _l, 

missioners,  assembled  at  Providence  for  this  purpose.  165  3. 
The  acceptance  of  commissions  to  fight  against  the  Dutch 
was  a  direct  violation  of  their  act  in  May,  and  as  they 
claimed  to  be  the  lawful  Assembly  under  the  charter, 
they  at  once  disfranchised  those  who  owned  the  validity 
of  those  commissions,  until  they  should  give  satisfaction  to 
Providence  and  Warwick.  The  remonstrance  recited  the 
attempts  made  at  re-union,  as  before  given,  and  denounced 
the  conduct  of  the  Island  Assembly  in  granting  com- 
missions of  reprisal,  not  only  as  rash  in  the  feeble  condi- 
tion of  the  colony,  but  as  subversive  of  all  government, 
in  that  they  assumed  to  do  it  by  authority  of  the  whole 
colony.  In  conclusion  an  ajjpeal  to  England  was  threat- 
ened in  case  the  iskind  should  attempt  to  engage  the  main- 
land towns  in  the  said  commissions,  or  to  molest  them  on 
that  account.  The  Court  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call 
of  either  of  the  General  Assistants.  This  was  not  long 
delayed. 

The  Pawtuxet  men  again,  as  two  years  before,  peti- 
tioned Massachusetts  on  the  subject  of  taxes  levied  by 
the  Providence  Plantations.  The  General  Court  sent  a 
letter  protesting  against  such  exaction,  or  the  exercise  of 
any  sort  of  jurisdiction  over  its  subjects,  and  granting 
leave  to  them  to  arrest  and  sue  in  the  county  Courts  any 
person  of  another  government  that  should  usurp  over 
them,  whenever  such  person  or  his  property  should  be 
found  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.'  To  reply 
to  this  protest  a  special  session  of  the  Commissioners  was  Aug 
held  at  Warwick.     No  copy  of  the  reply  remams. 

The  decided  conduct  of  the  island  in  the  Dutch  war 
increased  the  dissensions  of  the  State,  and  involved  her 
in  further  controversies  with  her  neighbors.  Capt.  Hull, 
under  his  commission,  captured  a  French  ship  in  a  mode 

1  M.  C.  R.  iv.  Part  1,  U9. 


248  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   alleged  by  Massachusetts,  in  a  letter  to  Rhode  Island,  to 
21^  he  unlawful.     Among  the  reasons  for  this  allegation,  the 
16  53.  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  was  mentioned.     This  was 
seized  upon  by  Gorton  as  a  ground  of  accusation  against 
Massachusetts  in  England,  whither  the  original  letter, 
signed  by  the  magistrates,  was .  to  be   sent  as  evidence, 
g         with  other  charges,  against  them.     William  Arnold,  of 
5.       Pawtuxet,  w^-ote  to  the   General  Court,  informing^ them 
of  this  design.'     Great  anxiety  was  felt  by  the  United 
Colonies  lest  the  Indians   should  ally  with  the   Dutch, 
The  Council  of  Massachusetts  had  sent  two  messengers 
]  y_     in  the  spring  to  question  Pessicus,  Ninigret  and  Mexham, 
the  son  of  Canonicus,  being  the  three  chief  sachems  of 
the  Narragansets,  upon  this    subject.     They  all  denied 
any  such  intention,  but  their  denial  did  not  satisfy  the 
Confederates,^  who,  at  their  next  meeting,  hearing  of  an 
j2  '    assault  made  by  the  Narragansets  upon  the  Long  Island 
Indians,  again  sent  messengers  to  them,  demanding  an 
account  of  their  conduct.      The  explanation  not  being 
20.     satisfactory  war  was  declared  against  the  Narragansets, 
but  Massachusetts  deeming  the  cause  insufficient,  refused 
to  raise  her  quota  of  troops,  so  the  expedition  was  aban- 
doned.^    The  energy  of  the  Rhode  Island  privateers  had 
alarmed  the   United   Colonies  in  the   spring.      Another 
seizure,  of  one  of  their  own  vessels,  by  Capt.  Baxter,  un- 
der a  commission  from  this  colony,  caused  them  to  send 
a  special  messenger  with  a  letter  to  Rhode   Island,  re- 
monstrating against  the  act.     The  Desire,  of  Barnstable, 
belonging  to  Samuel  Mayo,  was  seized  in  Hempstead  har- 
bor, an  English  settlement  within  the  Dutch  limits,  hav- 
ing stores  on  board,  which  the  owner  affirmed  were  in- 
tended for  a  plantation  of  English  at  Oyster  Bay.     Lieut. 

*  Hazard's  State  Papers,  i.  582. 

'  The   queries,  eleven  in  number,  with  the   answers  of  each  sachem,  are 
given  in  full  in  Hazard,  ii.  20.5-9. 
»  Hazard  ii.  283-5,  288-93. 


13. 


ACTS    OF    RHODE   ISLAND    PEIVATEERS.  249 

Hudson  was  instructed  to  learn  by  what  authority  Rhode  chap. 
Island  issued  letters  of  marque,  and  also  to  demand  sat-  «^.^ 
isfaction  for  Mayo.      President  Easton  replied  that  the  lfo3. 
colony  was  authorized  to  act  against  the  enemies  of  Eng-    ""jy/ 
land,  and  had  sent  to  the  supreme  authority  an  account 
of  Baxter's  proceedings,  which  they  disowned  so  far  as  he 
had  exceeded  his  commission.     No  satisfaction  was  given 
to  Mayo.     Upon  Hudson's  return  the  Commissioners  ad- 
vised Connecticut  to  bring;  the  Desire  to  trial  if  found  in 
her  harbors,  the  owner  agreeing  to   pay  damages,  if  it 
should  prove  true  that  she  had  been  justly  seized  by  Baxter. 
Baxter  also  captured  a   Dutch  vessel  near  New  York, 
and  was  pursued  to  Fairfield  harbor  by  two  armed  Dutch 
ships.     The  New  England  Commissioners  thereupon  pro- 
hibited  Dutch  vessels  from  .entering  any  English  port.       l&. 
This  was  a  very  mild  course  to  adopt  towards  a  belliger- 
ent foe,  and  contrasts  with  the  vigorous  conduct  of  Rhode 
Island. 

The  report  of  dissensions  in  Rhode  Island  had  reached 
England,  and  grieved  the  advocates  of  liberal  principles 
in  that  country.  Among  these  none  were  more  earnest 
than  Sir  Henry  Yane,  whose  sympathies,  when  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  were  with  the  party  of  progress,  and  i653-4 
who  at  home  opposed  in  turn  the  despotism  of  the  Stu- 
arts and  the  ultimate  designs  of  Cromwell.  Yane  always 
manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  a  cordial  appreciation  of  the  principles  of  its  founder, 
who  for  a  considerable  time  during  this  visit  to  England 
became  his  guest.  He  wrote  to  the  people  of  Rhode  Isl-  Yeh. 
and  a  most  kind  and  imijloring  letter,  urging  them  to  S. 
reconcile  their  feuds  for  the  honor  of  God  and  the  good 
of  their  fellow-men.  "  Are  there  no  wise  men  among 
you  ?  No  public  self-denying  spirits,"  he  asks,  "  who  can 
find  some  way  of  union  before  you  become  a  prey  to  your 
enemies  1"     This  letter  no  doubt  had  some  effect  in  com- 


250  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   pleting  a  reconciliation  which,  before  it  was  received,  had 

.^^.^..^  already  begun. 

16  54.         The  next  spring  but  one  General  Assembly  was  held, 

16-18.  although  the  union  was  not  yet  perfected.  A  majority  in 
the  mainland  towns  seem  to  have  agreed  to  the  course 
pursued  by  the  island,  as  these  towns  held  no  separate 
Court  of  Commissioners.  A  large  minority  still  held  out. 
There  was  no  cordiality  between  the  p9,rties.  A  commit- 
tee of  eight  persons,  two  from  each  town,  was  appointed 
to  prepare  some  mode  of  healing  the  division.  Nicholas 
Easton  was  chosen  President  of  the  colony.  Randall  Hol- 
den  had  the  next  highest  number  of  votes.  Thomas 
Olney  was  elected  Assistant  for  Providence,  Richard  Bor- 
den for  Portsmouth,  Edward  Smith  for  Newport,  and 
Randall  Holden  for  Warwick  ;  Joseph  Torrey,  Recorder  ; 
John  Coggeshall,  Treasurer  ;  Richard  Knight,  Sergeant, 
and  John  Cranston,  Attorney  Greneral.  Some  men  were 
examined  on  a  charge  of  illegal  trading  with  the  Dutch, 
and  another  commission  of  reprisal  was  granted  against 
the  enemy.  Fugitives  from  labor,  belonging  in  other  col- 
onies, were  to  be  returned  on  proper  proof,  at  the  expense 
of  the  master. 

Mr.  Williams  had  so  often  succeeded  in  calming  the 
ruffled  spirits  of  the  colonists,  that  he  felt  his  presence 
might  be  useful  in  the  existing  crisis.  Leaving  Mr.  Clarke 
to  protect  the  rights  of  the  colony  in  England,  he  re- 
turned home  early  in  the  summer,  bringing  with  him  the 
above-mentioned  letter  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  and  also  an 
order  from  the  Lord  Protector  to  the  government  of 
Massachusetts,  to  permit  him  in  future  to  pass  unmo- 
j„ly  lested  through  that  territory.  .  Soon  after  his  return  he 
12.  wrote  to  his  friend  Winthrop  an  account  of  his  occu- 
pations while  abroad,  from  which  we  learn  of  his  teach- 
ing the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French  and  Dutch  lan- 
guages, thus  making  his  many  accomplishments  a  means 
of  subsistence,  and  also  of  his  intimacy  with  Milton,  then 


REUNION    OF   THE   COLONY.  251 

Secretary  of  the   Council  of  State,  to  whom  he  taught   chap 
Dutch  in  exchange  for  other  languages.'     That  he  should  31^ 
be  obliged  to  teach  for  his  support  while  employed  on  16  5  4. 
public  business,  is  a  proof  of  the  poverty  of  the  colony      12!^ 
at  this  time.     He  also  addressed  a  most  earnest  and  con- 
ciliatory letter  to  the  town  of  Providence,  concerning  the 
dissensions  in  the  colony,  wherein  he  thanks   Grod  "for 
his  wonderful  Providences,  by  which  alone  the  town  and 
colony  and  that  grand  cause  of  Truth  and  Freedom  of 
Conscience,  hath  been  upheld  to  this  day,"  and  suggests 
a  mode  of  settling  the  unhappy  quarrel.     He  was  ap-    Aug. 
pointed  to  reply  to  the  letter  from  Sir  Henry  Vane,  which      ^^' 
he  did  in  behalf  of  the  town.     From  that  letter  we  are 
confirmed  in  the  opinion  that  the  usurpation  of  Codding- 
ton,  and  the  difficulties  arising  from  the  granting  of  com- 
missions of  reprisal  against    the  Dutch,   were  the  chief 
causes  of  discontent  in  the  colony. 

At  length  a  reunion  was  effected.  A  full  Court  of 
Commissioners,  six  from  each  town,  assembled  at  War- 
wick. Articles  of  agreement,  settling  the  terms  of  reun- 
ion, were  signed  by  the  whole  Court.  It  was  agreed  that 
all  acts  of  the  separate  Assemblies  from  the  time  of  the 
division  should  remain  to  the  account  of  the  towns,  and 
of  the  persons  taking  part  in  those  acts  ;  that  the  colony 
should  proceed  under  authority  of  the  charter  ;  and  that 
the  General  Assembly  for  all  public  affairs,  except  elec- 
tions, should  be  composed  of  six  members  from  each  town. 
Thus  ended  this  most  dangerous  period  of  disunion,  that 
had  lasted  for  three  years,  of  which  the  first  half  was 
owing  to  the  ambition  of  Coddington,  and  the  last  to  the 
local  jealousies  of  the  towns,  and  to  the  refractory  spirit 
of  individuals.  After  this  happy  consummation  the  Court 
continued  in  session  two  days.  They  re-established  the  P^' 
code  of  1647,  forbade  the  sale  of  liquor  to  the  Indians, 
and  prohibited  the  French  and  Dutch  from  trading  with 

*  This  extremely  interestiag  letter  is  given  in  Knowles,  261-4. 


31. 


252  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  them.  The  care  of  the  colony  to  avoid  all  legislation  that 
.^^-^  could  in  any  way  affect  the  rights  of  conscience,  is  con- 
1654.  spiciious  in  the  action  taken  upon  "several  complaints' 
1.  *  exhibited  to  this  Assembly  against  y"  incivilitie  of  persons 
exercised  upon  y'  first  day  of  y'  weeke,  which  is  offensive 
to  divers  amongst  us.'*  They  passed  no  Sunday  lav.'s, 
such  as  existed  all  around  them,  hut,  judging  rightly  that 
such  disturbances  arose  from  the  want  of  any  regular  sea- 
son for  recreation,  they  referred  it  to  the  towns  to  appoint 
days  for  their  "  servants  and  children  to  recreate  them- 
selves," and  thus  to  prevent  similar  annoyances  in  future. 
The  Greneral  Court  of  election  met  at  Warwick. 
12,  Roger  Williams  was  chosen  President  ;  Thomas  Harris 
Assistant  for  Providence,  John  Roome  for,  Portsmouth, 
Benedict  Arnold  for  Newport,  and  Randall  Holden  for 
Warwick  ;  Wm.  Lytherland  Recorder,  Richard  Knight 
Sergeant,  Richard  Burden  Treasurer,  and  John  Cranston 
Attorney  General.  These  were  to  hold  office  until  the 
13  spring  election.  Tbe  next  day  the  Court  of  Commission- 
ers fixed  the  first  Tuesday  in  May  for  the  election  of 
members  by  the  towns,  and  the  Tuesday  after  the  fifteenth 
of  May  for  that  of  general  officers.  Legal  process  was  to 
issue  "  in  y'name  of  His  Highness  y"  Lord  Protector  of  y^ 
Commonwealth  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and 
y*  dominions  thereto  belonging."  The  President  and 
Gregory  Dexter,  then  town  clerk  of  Providence,  were 
desired  to  "  send  letters  of  humble  thanksgiving  to  His 
Highness  the  Lord  Protector,  and  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Mr. 
Holland,  and  to  Mr.  John  Clarke,  in  y"  name  of  y"  colo- 
nic.*' The  two  island  towns  were  authorized  to  hold 
their  court  of  trials  together,  if  they  pleased,  or  apart  as 
they  had  previously  done,  and  the  same  liberty  was  given 
to  the  two  mainland  towns.  This  act  seems  intended  to 
remove  what  was  apparently  the  first  source  of  alienation 
in  the  colony,  soon  after  the  oiganization  of  the  charter 
government.' 

*  Ante  chap.  vii.  p   2U,  221. 


INDIAN   WAR.  253 

War  had  again  broken  out  between  the  Narragansets  chap. 
and  the  Long  Island  Indians.     The  United  Colonies  were   2J^ 
much  alarmed,  and  sent  messengers  to  inquire  of  Ninigret  1  6 .5  4. 
the  cause,  and  to  demand  his  presence  at  Hartford.    Nin-     jg  * 
igret  replied  that  the  enemy  had  slain  a  sachem's  son  and      18. 
sixty  of  his  people.     The  haughty  spirit  of  the  chieftain 
appears  in  his  answer  :  "  If  your  governor's  son    were 
slain,  and  several  other  men,  would  you  ask  counsel  of 
another  nation  how  and  when  to  right  yourselves  ?  "     He 
refused  to  go  to  Hartford,  and  desired  only  that  the  Eng- 
lish would  let  him  alone.     President  Williams  wrote  to 

the  government  of  Massachusetts  a  lonor  letter  in  defence 

.  ...  Oct. 

of  the  Indians,'  maintaining  that  the  Narragansets  had      5/ 

always  been  true  to  the  English,  and  that  the  present  war 
on  Long  Island  was  an  act  of  self-defence.  A  force  was 
sent  against  Ninigret  under  Major  Willard.  The  In-  ^• 
dians  took  refuge  in  a  swamp.  The  troops  returned  un-  „ . 
successful,  to  the  great  chagrin  of  the  Commissioners  at 
Hartford.  But  Massachusetts,  from  humane  motives,  op- 
posed the  war,  and  the  other  colonies  were  obliged  to 
submit."^ 

Military   affairs   always   received   great   attention   in 
Rhode  Island,  but  were  not  always  a  matter  of  record. 
This  year  the  first  mention  is  made  of  an  election  of  oflfi-    jy^^y 
cers  in  Providence.     All  were  required  to  do  military  duty  ;       G- 
only  one  man  could  be  left  at  home  on  each  farm,  one  mile 
from  town,  on  parade  days. 

An  entry  in  the  Portsmouth  records  shows  that  mem-      13, 
bers  were  elected  from  that  town  to  attend  a  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  be  held  the  next  day  at  New-      14. 
port.     No  record  of  any  such  session  exists,  nor  is  any 
other  reference  made  to  it  elsewhere. 

When  Aquidneck  was  purchased,  only  the  grass  upon 

'  The  letter  in  full  is  given  in  R.  I.  Col.    Records,  i.  291,  and  Knowlei, 
272-8. 

«  Hazard's  State  Papers,  ii.  308,  318,  324-5,  340,  etc. 


254  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  other  islands  was  conveyed  in  the  deed.  The  fee  still 
vested  in  the  native  owners.  A  movement  was  now  made 
in  town  meeting  at  Portsmouth  to  join  with  Newport  in 
the  purchase  of  Conanicut  and  Dutch  islands,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  treat  with  Newport  on  the  sub- 
ject. These  islands  were  afterwards  bought,  the  former  by 
Coddington  and  Benedict  Arnold,  Jr.,'  the  latter,  together 
with  Goat  and  Coasters  Harbor  islands,  by  Arnold  and 
others.  2 

Although  harmony  was  for  the  most  part -restored  to  the 
colony,  there  still  remained  many  who  were  restive  under 
restraint,  some  advocating  an  unlawful  liberty,  and  others, 
royalists  in  feeling,  refusing  to  obey  the  government.  This 
winter  was  one  of  unusual  turbulence  in  Providence. 
Under  pretence  of  a  voluntary  training  a  tumult  occurred 
in  which  some  of  the  principal  people  were  implicated.^ 
A  paper  was  sent  to  the  town  asserting  the  dangerous  doc- 
trine "  that  it  was  blood-guiltiness,  and  against  the  rule  of 
the  gospel,  to  execute  judgment  upon  transgressors  against 
the  private  or  public  weal."  This  dogma  was  subversive  of 
all  civil  society.  If  allowed  it  would  pervert  one  of  the 
two  distinctive  principles  of  Bhode  Island  liberty  to  the 
destruction  of  the  other  and  the  consequent  annihilation  of 
them  both.  It  was  then  that  Eoger  Williams  wrote  to  the 
town  that  masterly  letter  which  will  endure  so  long  as  the 
principles  it  so  admirably  defines  shall  be  cherished  among 
men. 

"  There  goes  many  a  ship  to  sea,  with  many  hundred 
souls  in  one  ship,  whose  weal  and  woe  is  common,  and  is  a 
true  picture  of  a  commonwealth,  or  a  human  combination, 
or  society.  It  hath  fallen  out  sometimes  that  both  Papista 
and  Protestants,  Jews  and  Turks,  may  be  embarked  in 
one  ship  ;  upon  which  supposal  I  affirm,  that  all  the  lib- 

•  April  17,  1657.  »  May  22,  1658. 

*  Thomas  Olney,  Robert  Williams,  John  Field,  William  Harris  and  others. 
Staples'  Annals,  113. 


"WILLIAMS'   LETTER    ON   LIBERTY  OF   CONSCIENCE.  255 

erty  of  conscience,  that  ever  I  pleaded  for,  turns  upon  chap. 
these  two  hinges  :  that  none  of  the  Papists,  Protestants  Jil^ 
Jews,  or  Turks,  be  forced  to  come  to  the  ship's  prayers  or  16  5  5 
worship,  nor  compelled  from  their  own  particular  prayers 
or  worship,  if  they  practise  any.  I  further  add,  that  I 
never  denied,  that  notwithstanding  this  liberty,  the  com- 
mander of  this  ship  ought  to  command  the  ship's  course, 
yea,  and  also  command  that  justice,  peace,  and  sobriety,  be 
kept  and  practised,  both  among  the  seamen  and  all  the 
passengers.  If  any  of  the  seamen  refuse  to  perform  their 
service,  or  passengers  to  pay  their  freight ;  if  any  refuse 
to  help,  in  person  or  purse,  towards  the  common  charges 
or  defence  ;  if  any  refuse  to  obey  the  common  laws  and 
orders  of  the  ship,  concerning  their  common  peace  or  pre- 
servation ;  if  any  shall  mutiny  and  rise  up  against  their 
commanders  and  officers  ;  if  any  should  preach  or  write  that 
there  ought  to  be  no  commanders  or  officers,  because  all  , 

are  equal  in  Christ,  therefore  no  masters  nor  officers,  no 
laws  nor  orders,  no  corrections  nor  punishments  ;  I  say,  I 
never  denied,  but  in  such  cases,  whatever  is  pretended,  the 
commander  or  commanders  may  judge,  resist,  compel,  and 
punish  such  transgressors,  according  to  their  deserts  and 
merits."  ' 

Nowhere  have  the  limits  of  civil  and  religious  freedom 
been  more  aptly  illustrated  than  in  this  letter  of  the 
christian  statesman  who  first  reduced  them  to  harmonious 
union. 

Complaints  made  to  Cromwell  of  the  divisions  in  the      29. 
colony,  drew  from  him  a  brief  letter  confirming  the  charter 
and  promising  to  adjust  the  difficulties. 

At  the  regular  annual  election  held  in  Providence  the 
same  general  officers  were  chosen  as  in  September,  except     ^^^ 
Harris,  who  gave-  place  to  Thomas  Olney  as  Assistant  for 
Providence,  Knight  who  was  defeated  by  George  Parker 
for  Sergeant,  and  Burden  who  was  displaced  by  John  Sand- 

»  Knowles,  279-80. 


256  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  ford,  as  Treasurer.  Jolin  Greene,  Jr.,  was  chosen  Solicitor 
,^„^  General,  an  office  not  filled  at  the  former  election.  The 
16  5  5.  court  roll  of  freemen  at  this  time  numbered  two  hundred 
22;  and  forty- seven  persons,  of  whom  Providence  had  forty-two, 
Warwick  thirty-eight,  Portsmouth  seventy-one,  and-  New- 
port ninety-six.  More  than  two  thirds  of  the  strength  of 
the  colony  was  on  the  island.  Newport  had  already  by  far 
the  largest  portion  and  was  rapidly  increasing.  The  dif- 
ference between  an  inhabitant  and  a  freeman  .should  be 
borne  in  mind.  Not  every  resident  was  a  legal  inhabitant. 
Some  time  elapsed  after  one's  arrival  in  the  colony  before 
he  could  be  received  as  an  inhabitant,  participating  thereby 
in  certain  rights  to  the  common  lands,  doing  ju;;y  duty,  and 
being  eligible  to  some  of  the  lesser  town  offices.  If  his 
conduct  while  thus  situated  gave  satisfaction  he  might  be 
propounded  at  town  meeting  to  become  a  freeman,  and  if 
no  valid  objection  was  brought  against  him,  at  the  next 
meeting  he  was  admitted  to  all  the  rights  of  the  freemen, 
or  close  corporators  of  the  colony. 

In  the  earlier  years  an  admission  as  freeman  sometimes 
brought  with  it  a  joint  ownership  in  the  land  purchased, 
but  soon  it  came  to  convey  only  the  elective  franchise,  and 
even  this  was  not  always  confined  to  freemen,  for  afterwards 
by  a  town  law  in  Providence'  any  inhabitant  was  liable  to 
be  elected  to  office  and  finable  for  not  serving.  Two  years 
later  all  who  held  lands  in  the  town  were  declared  to  be 
freemen.^  This  latter  feature  remained,  with  some  modi- 
fications, till  the  adoption  of  the  State  Constitution, 
22  25.  At  this  session  the  general  Court  of  trials  was  appointed 
to  sit  once  a  year  in  each  town.  All  persons  were  required 
to  sisrn  a  submission  to  the  Lord  Protector  and  the  Par- 
liament.  Those  who  refused  were  deprived  of  the  benefit 
of  the  colony  laws  till  they  did  so.  Prisons  were  ordered 
to  be  built  at  Newport  and  Warwick.     Providence  and 

'  Passed  at  town  meeting,  June  1656.     Annals  of  Prov.,  118. 
do.  do.  May  1658.         do,  do.      124. 


SUBMISSION   TO   THE   LORD    PROTECTOE.  257 

Portsmouth  were  each  to  build  a  cage  and  to  furnish  it   chap. 
with  a  pair  of  stocks.     Very  full  laws  were  passed  regulat-  2^^ 
ing  the  sale  of  liquors.      This  subject  received  the  atten-  105  5 
tion  of  neaily  every  Assembly  and  has  been  the  must  fruitful       '^-^ " 
theme   of  legislation  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 
Two  taverns  were  licensed  in  each  town,  and  leave  was 
granted  to  the  towns  to  add  one  more  if  they  saw  fit. 
The  armed  opposition  to  authority  by  Olney  and  others, 
in  the  winter,  was  discussed  and  a  committee  appointed  to 
inform  him  of  the  Assembly's  view  of  the  matter.     That 
the  disturbance  was  not  very  serious  may  be  inferred  from 
the  choice  of  Olney  as  an  assistant  and  from  his  taking 
the  engagement  after  conferring  with  the  committee.     At 
the  next  town  meeting  it  was  wisely  concluded  ''  that  for    ''^'^'^^• 
the  colony's  sake,  who  have  since  chosen  Thomas  Olney  an 
assistant,  and  for  the  public  union  and  peace's   sake,  it 
should  be  passed  by  and  no  more  mentioned." 

The  reception  of  the  letter  from  Cromwell  caused  a  28. 
special  session  of  the  Assembly  at  Portsmouth*.  Letters 
of  thanks  were  voted  to  the  colony  agent  and  to  the  Lord  ^^• 
President  of  the  Council,  requesting  the  latter  to  present 
their  submission  to  His  Highness  the  Lord  Protector.  A 
law  was  passed  requiring  that  any  who  might  be  convicted 
by  the  Assembly  as  leaders  of  faction  should  be  sent  as 
prisoners  to  England  at  their  own  exj)ense,  there  to  be 
tried  and  punished. 

That  strict  decorum  was  not  always  preserved,  although 
its  necessity  was  appreciated,  appears  by  the  last  act  of 
this  session  ;  "  that  in  case  any  man  shall  strike  another 
person  in  y'  Court,  he  shall  either  be  fined  ten  pounds,  or 
be  whipt,  accordinge  as  y'  Court  shall  see  meete." 

The  shortness  of  the  sessions,  and  the  early  hour  at 
which  the  Assemblies  met,  are  worthy  of  remark.  Three  or 
four  days  were  then  found  to  be  sufficient  for  the  most  im- 
portant business,  and  the  daily  adjournments  were  usually 
until  six  o'clock,  or  till  half  an  hour  or  one  hour  after 
VOL.  I.— 17 


258  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

sunrise  the  next  morning.  A  fine  of  one  shilling  was  im- 
posed for  absence  from  roll  call. 

16  5  5.  The  Warwick  dispute  remained  unadjusted.    An  action 

for  damages  in  the  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds  was  brought 
by  the  Gortonists  against  Massachusetts,  before  the  Coun- 
cil of  State.  The  Indians  subject  to  Massachusetts  there 
and  at  Pawtuxet  continued  their  depredations.  The  Eng- 
lish subjects  at  the  latter  place,  now  consisting  of  hut  four 
families'  only  two  of  whom  still  held  out  against  Rhode 
Island,  were  a  source  of  obstruction  to  the  authority  of  the 
colony.  The  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  powder  and  arms 
to  citizens  of  Rhode  Island  was  still  in  force  in  Massachu- 
setts.    Upon  these  four  points,  of  xital  importance  to  the 

JTov.  prosperity  of  the  State,  President  Williams  wrote  to  the 
^*  Government  of  Massachusetts,  urging  them  so  to  alter  their 
policy  as  to  prevent  comjDlaints  against  them  from  being 
sent  to  England,  iu  ships  then  ready  to  sail.^  Although 
the  General  Court  was  then  in  session  no  immediate  notice 
was  taken  of  this  communication. 

1655-6.  The  people  of  Providence,  alarmed  by  hostile  demon- 
strations of  the  Indians,  decided  to  erect  a  fort  on  Stamp- 
er's Hill.^  At  the  same  meeting  they  established  a  jus- 
tice's Court  for  the  trial  of  cases  not  exceeding  forty  shil- 

'  Sttsphen  Arnold,  Zachary  Rhodes,  William  Arnold  and  William  Carpen- 
ter. Of  these  the  first-named  desired  to  unite  with  Rhode  Island,  as  did  the 
second  also,  for,  being  a  Baptist,  he  was  virtually  banished  by  the  law  of  13th 
Nov.  16-14.  The  last  two  alone  held  out,  under  pretence  of  fearing  to  offend 
Massachusetts  by  withdrawing  their  allegiance.  This  they  did,  however, 
three  years  later,  Oct.  22,  1658,  by  consent  of  the  General  Court. 

^  The  letter  is  found  in  R.  I.  CoL  Rec.  i.  322-5,  and  Hazard's  State  Pa- 
pers, i.  610-11. 

^  The  tradition,  preserved  by  Judge  Staples,  in  Annals  of  Providence,  p. 
117,  gives  a  curious  derivation  for  this  name,  and  illustrates  the  constant  dan- 
gers to  which  the  early  settlers  were  exposed.  "  Soon  after  the  settlement  of 
Providence  a  body  of  Indians  approached  the  town  in  a  hostile  manner. 
Some  of  the  townsmen,  by  running  and  stamping  on  this  hill,  induced  them 
to  believe  that  there  was  a  large  number  of  men  stationed  there  to  oppose 
them,  upon  which  they  relinquished  their  design  and  retired.  From  tins  cir- 
cumstance  the  hill  was  always  called  Stamper's  Hill.''  See  vol.  ii.  p.  121  note. 


J;in. 


CODDINGTON    SUBMITS    TO    THE    COLONY.  259 

lings  iu  amount.      Eoger  Williams,  Thomas  Olney,  and  chap. 
Thomas  Harris,  were  chosen  judges  of  this  Court.     The   .„J^ 
former  was  then  President  of  the  colony,  Olney  was  the   1655-6. 
Greneral  Assistant  for  Providence,  and  Harris  was  a  member 
of  the  Assembly.     That  the  smallest  tribunal  in  a  town 
should  be  composed  of  such  members  speaks  well  for  the 
public  spirit  of  the  leading  men,  and  for  the  care  taken  in 
the  administration  of  justice. 

At  the  general  Court  of  trials  held  at  Warwick,  Mr.  ;^[„j.ch 
Coddington  appeared  as  one  of  the  newly  elected  commis-  11. 
sioners  from  Newport.  His  election  caused  so  much  dis- 
satisfaction that  an  investigation  was  had  by  the  Assembly, 
the  jury  meanwhile  being  dismissed.  The  result  was  a 
formal  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  colony  in  these 
words  : 

"  I  William  Coddington,  doe  hereby  submit  to  y" 
authoritie  of  His  Highness  in  this  Colonic  as  it  is  now 
united,  and  that  with  all  my  heart." 

The  Assembly  then  adjourned,  while  the  Court  of  trials  i). 
proceeded,  after  which  it  again  convened  at  the  same 
place.  The  committee  of  investigation  reported  favora- 
bly on  Coddington's  right  to  a  seat,  but  advised  that  a 
letter  be  sent  to  the  Agent  in  England,  giving  their 
reasons  for  receiving  him,  and  asking  for  a  discharge  of 
the  complaints  entered  against  him  before  the  Council  of 
State.  He  had  incurred  a  fine  for  withholding  the  colony 
records  from  the  last  Assembly,  and  this  fine  it  was  voted 
not  to  remit.  Guns,  similar  to  some  he  had  brought  over 
from  England,  were  found  in  possession  of  the  Indians. 
He  was  therefore  required  to  account  for  the  disposal  of 
his.  Certain  proceedings  prejudicial  to  Coddington  during 
the  time  of  his  usurpation,  were  cut  out  from  the  records 
and  given  to  him — a  mutilation  much  to  be  regretted,  as 
it  deprives  us  of  all  information  concerning  his  administra- 
tion. The  presentments  against  him  and  some  of  his 
partisans  on  the  Island  records  were  annulled. 


260  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  The  custom  of  referring  particular  items  of  business  to 

^^.^.^  sub-committees,  which  gave  rise  to  the  modern  system  of 

1655-6.  standing    committees,    was    early   introduced    into    our 
March.  iT         mi  • 

Assembly,      ihere  is  scarcely  a  session,  since  the  reunion, 

at  which  one  or  more  sub-committees  were  not  appointed. 

Prior  to  that  time,  all  business .  was  done  by  deliberation 

of  the  whole  body.     A  warrant  was  issued  to  bring  Pum- 

ham  before  the  Court  to  answer  complaints  from  th©.  town 

of  Warwick,  and   a  committee  was  appointed  .-to    treat 

with  him,  and  to  report  at  the  next  session.     Marriages 

were  ordered  to  be  published   at   town  meetings,  or  on 

training  days  at  the  head  of  the   company,  or  by  writing 

posted  in  some  public  place,  signed  by  a  magistrate.     If 

the  banns  were  forbidden,  the  case  was  to  be  heard  by 

two  magistrates  ;  should  they  allow  it,  the  parties  might 

marry  ;  but  if  not,  the  general  Court  of  trials  were  to 

decide  it.     Tavern  bars  were  to  be  closed  at  nine  o'clock 

at  night.     The  age  of  majority  was  fixed  at  twenty-one 

years.     No  magistrate,  during   the  trial  of   a  case,  was 

permitted  to  leave  the  bench  without  permission  from  the 

Court,  under  a  heavy  penalty,  as  such  an  act  might  bias 

the  jury,  and  thus  imperil  a  just  cause. 

Iggg  The  letter  to  the  General  Court,  at  their  November 

session,  having  received  no  reply,  Williams,  in  the  spring, 
wrote  to  Governor  Endicott,  who  invited  him  to  come  to 

May  Boston.  A  second  official  letter  was  sent  to  the  Court, 
of  the  same  tenor  as  the  former  one  ;  and  a  few  days 
after,  Mr.  Williams,  then  in  Boston,  wrote  to  the  Court, 
17.  expressing  his  gratification  at  the  progress  of  affairs  with 
Pumham,  which,  it  would  seem,  were  intrusted  to  his 
management. ' 

*  An  amusing  entry  in  the  Warwick  records  of  15th  May  of  this  year 
shows  the  provision  made  hy  that  town  for  this  journey  of  the  President. 
"  Ordered  that  forty  shillings  be  sent  out  of  the  treasury  unto  Mr.  Roger  Wil- 
liams, and  a  pair  of  Indian  Breeches  for  his  Indian,  at  seven  shillings  six- 
pence at  6  pr  penny,  as  also  a  horse  for  his  journey  unto  Boston  and  back 
again." 


GENERAL    ELECTION.  261 

At  the  general  election  held  in  Portsmouth,  Roger   chap. 

Williams  was  again  chosen  President.     The   Assistants  ^^..^.^ 

were  Thomas  Olney  for  Providence,  William  Balston  for  165  6. 

May 
Portsmouth,   John   Coggeshall   for   Newport,  and    John      20. 

Weeks  for  AVarwick,  he  having  the  next  highest  vote  to 

Randall   Holden,  who,  being  elected,  declined  to  serve, 

and  whose  fine  of  five  pounds  for  refusing  was  offset  by 

his  services  previously  rendered.     John  Sandford  was  made 

Recorder  and  Treasurer  ;  George  Parker,  Sergeant  ;  John 

Easton,  Attorney-General ;  and  Richard  Bulgar,  Solicitor, 

The  Assembly,  as   usual,   met  the    next    day,  and    sat 

three  days. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  controversy  with  the  Pawtuxet  21-23. 

men  should  be  closed  by  arbitration,  after  which   they 

were  to  be  received  as  freemen  of  the  colony.     Whoever 

should  deface  or  destroy  any  instrument  of  justice  was  to 

make  reparation  for  the  injury,  and  to  be  confined  for  six 

hours  in    the    stocks.      Leave  was  granted    to    William 

Blackstone  to  enter  the  titles  of  his  land  in  the  records 

of  land  evidence  in  the  colony.     This  was  doubtless  for 

the   sake  of    convenience,    he   living    near    Providence, 

although  at  that  time  in  the  Plimouth  jurisdiction,  as 

appears  from  letters  of  administration  granted  by  that 

colonv  at  his  decease.     At  the  autumn  session,  held  like-     _.  , 

'  .  Uct. 

wise  at  Portsmouth,  provision  was  made  for  supplying      lo. 

any  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  a  general   officer. 

Whoever  had  the  next  highest  number  of  votes  was  to 

fill  the  place  till  the  ensuing  May  election,  or  in  case  the 

choice  had  been  unanimous,  the  town  where  the  vacancy 

occurred  was  to  elect  a  successor.     This  action  was  caused 

by  the  death  of  the  Sergeant,  George  Parker,  the  first 

general  officer  who  died  in  place.     He  was  succeeded  by 

Richard   Knight,  who  had  been  his  competitor  at  the 

spring  election. 

One  of  the  most  serious  differences  that  ever  disturbed 

the  colony  commenced  about  this  time.     The  free  princi- 


262  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  pies  of  the  State  were  constantly  liable  to  abuse  by  those 
,.^,.^_;^  whom  they  attracted  hither.  The  distinction  between  li- 
165  6.  cense  and  legal  liberty  was  not  yet  so  clearly  drawn  but 
2Q '  that  some  strong  intellects  failed  to  see  it  as  it  existed  in 
the  mind  of  Koger  Williams,  or  as  set  forth  in  his  remark- 
able letter  before  given.  The  paper  which  produced  that 
letter  expressed  a  most  dangerous  idea,  but  one  that  found 
an  earnest  and  able  champion  in  William  Harris,  between 
whom  and  Williams  an  inveterate  hostility  arose.  The 
sources  of  this  enmity  appear  to  have  been'their  different 
views  of  the  nature  of  liberty,  and  the  proceedings  result- 
ing from  this  difference.  It  was  carried  to  a  degree  of 
personal  invective  that  mars  the  exalted  character  of  Wil- 
liams and  detracts  from  the  dignity  and  worth  of  his  op- 
ponent. It  was  never  forgotten  by  the  one  or  forgiven  by 
the  other.  Both  were  men  of  ardent  feelings  and  of  great 
address,  whose  mental  activity  was  never  at  rest.  Harris, 
unfortunately,  was  almost  constantly  employed  in  business 
that  was  inimical  to  the  interests  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
from  this  time  forward  assumed  the  position  that  the  Ar- 
nolds of  Pawtuxet  had  before  held,  either  as  a  leader  of 
faction  within  the  State  or  the  agent  and  representative 
of  adverse  interests  abroad.  This  is  the  more  to  be  re- 
gretted because  he  brought  to  whatever  he  undertook  the 
resources  of  a  great  mind  and,  to  all  appearance,  the  hon- 
est convictions  of  an  earnest  soul.  On  this  account  he 
was  a  more  dangerous  opponent  and  required  stringent 
measures  to  suppress  the  errors  of  his  political  creed.  So 
far  only  as  this  controversy  had  a  public  character  we  shall 
follow  its  development  through  a  long  series  of  years. 
Let  the  more  repulsive  features  of  personal  rancor  be  con- 
signed to  oblivion  !  Harris  had  published  "  that  he  that 
can  say  it  is  his  conscience  ought  not  to  yield  subjection 
to  any  human  order  amongst  men  ;"  and  had  attempted  to 
sustain  the  subversive  doctrine  by  abundant  perversions 
of  scriptural  quotation.     It  was  much  such  an  announce- 


"WILLIAM   HARRIS   ARRESTED   FOR   TREASON.  263 

raent  as  had  aroused  the  pen  of  Williams  two  years  before,   chap. 
He  uow  adopted  severer  means  to  crush  the  reiterated  fal-  ^^^^ 
lacy.      As  President  of  the  colony  he  issued  a  warrant  for  ^^"^^■'• 
the  arrest  of  Harris  on  the  charge  of  high  treason  against      12. 
the  Commonwealth  of  England.' 

At  the  next  election  held  in  Newport,  Williams  was  ^,^r'^ ' 
not  a  candidate.  Benedict  Arnold  was  chosen  President  ;  ly. 
Arthur  Fenner  of  Providence,  William  Balston  of  Ports- 
mouth, Richard  Tew  of  Newport,  and  Randall  Holden  of 
W^arwick,  Assistants,  John  Greene  Jr.,  Attorney  General, 
and  James  Rogers,  Solicitor.  The  other  three  general 
offices  remained  as  before.  The  trial  of  Harris  could  not 
proceed  on  account  of  the  absence  of  his  accuser.  Both 
parties  were  warned  to  appear  at  an  adjourned  session  in 
Warwick.     At  this  special  session  Harris  was  required  to     '  ^^J 

'  Two  copies  of  this  warrant  are  still  preserved  among  the  papers  of  Wil- 
liam Harris,  now  in  the  possession  of  Wm.  J.  Harris,  Esq.,  of  Providence, 
whose  kindness  in  placing  these  valuable  MSS.  in  the  hands  of  the  writer  he 
here  begs  leave  to  acknowledge.  The  warrant  reads  as  follows  :  "  Whereas, 
William  Harris  of  Providence,  published  to  all  the  towns  in  the  colony  dan- 
gerous writings  containing  his  notorious  defiance  to  the  authority  of  his  high- 
ness the  Lord  Protector,  dec,  and  the  high  Court  of  Parliament  of  England, 
as  also  his  notorious  attempts  to  draw  all  the  English  subjects  of  this  colony 
into  a  traitorous  renouncing  of  their  allegiance  and  subjection,  and  whereas 
the  said  William  Harris  now  openly  in  the  face  of  the  Court,  declareth  him- 
self resolved  to  maintain  the  said  writings  with  his  blood ;  These  are  there- 
fore in  the  name  of  His  Highness  the  Lord  Protector,  strictly  to  will  and  re- 
quire you  to  apprehend  the  said  William  Harris,  and  to  keep  him  in  safe  cus- 
tody until  his  appearance  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  colony  in  May 
next  ensuing  at  Newport,  before  which  Assembly  he  is  to  be  convicted  and 
sent  for  England,  or  acquitted  according  to  law  of  the  colony  established 
amongst  us.  And  you  are  also  hereby  authorized  to  take  all  due  care  that 
his  land  and  estate  be  faithfully  secured  to  the  use  of  his  highness,  the  Lord 
Protector,  in  case  of  the  conviction  of  the  said  William  Harris  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  colony  as  aforesaid  ;  for  the  due  performance  of  all  which 
premises  all  his  Highness'  officers  in  this  colony,  both  civil  and  military,  and 
all  his  Highness'  subjects  in  this  colony  are  hereby  straightly  required  to  be 
aiding  and  assisting,  as  they  will  answer  to  the  contrary  at  their  peril. 

"  Roger  Williams,  President. 

"  To  Mr.  Richard  Knight,  General  Sergeant.''^ 

This  warrant  is  dated  "  Newport,  12th  of  the  Ist  mo.,  1656  and  1657,  «C 
called. " 


264  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   read  a  copy  of  his  book  upon  which  the  impeachment  was 
2,^^  based  while  Williams  read  the  original.     Williams  then 
165  7.   read  to  the  Couit  his  letter  containino;  the  accusation,  also 
4 '     a  cojiy  of  his  charge,  and  his  reply  to  Harris'  book.     It 
was  referred  to  a  committee  to  report  what  further  pro- 
ceedings were  desirable.     They  advised  that  the  papers 
be  sent  to  England  for  examination  and  that  Harris  should 
give  bonds  for  good  behavior  till  the  result  was  known. 
A  committee  was  thereupon  appointed  to  write-to  John 
Clarke  a  suitable  letter  to  accompany  these  papers,  and 
Harris  and  his  son  Andrew  were  placed  under  bonds  of 
five  hundred  pounds. 

The  English  settled  in  the  Pequot  country  were  ever 
thwarting  the  efforts  of  the  Narragansets  to  avenge  their 
wrongs  upon  Uncas.  The  Mohawks  were  in  league  with 
the  Narragansets  against  the  Mohegans,  and  were  advanc- 
ing in  force  to  attack  them.  The  Narragansets  applied  to 
the  General  Assembly  to  remonstrate  with  the  English  on 
their  conduct  in  always  giving  warning,  through  their 
scouts,  "to  Uncas  of  the  approach  of  an  enemy,  lest  the 
Mohawks,  being  enraged  thereby,  should  attack  the  Eng- 
lish themselves.  The  Assembly  wrote  a  letter  to  Capt. 
Denison  and  others  in  accordance  with  this  request,  that 
for  peace  sake  they  should  allow  the  Indians  to  fight  out 
their  own  quarrels  —  a  grain  of  advice  which,  if  followed, 
would  have  done  more  than  any  thing  else  to  secure  the 
good-will  of  those  powerful  tribes. 

The  year  1656  will  be  darkly  memorable  in  the  annals 
of  New  England  for  the  arrival  of  the  Quakers  and  the 
commencement  of  their  persecution  at  Boston.  The  ap- 
pearance of  this  "cursed  sect  of  heretics"*  so  alarmed  the 
Puritans  that  a  day  of  public  humiliation  was  appointed^ 
to  be  held  in  aU  the  churches  mainly  on  their  account. 
A  stringent  law  was  enacted  for  their  suppression'  and 

'  Preamble  to  law  of  Oct.  14th,  1656,  M.  C.  R.,  iii.  415. 
•  May  14th,  1656,  to  be  held  June  11th. 
» Oct.  14th,  1666. 


PERSECUTION    OF    THE    QUAKERS.  265 

two  years  later  their  tenets  were  made  a  capital  offence,'  chap. 
Fines,  imprisonment,  whipping,  banishment,  mutilation,  J,^!^ 
and  death,  were  denounced  and  inflicted  upon  them.  The  i  «  o  7. 
wildest  fanaticism  on  their  part  was  met  by  a  frenzied 
bigotry  on  the  other.  Acts  that  made  the  perpetrators 
amenable  to  the  statute  against  nuisances  were  visited 
with  the  penalties  provided  against  heresies.  The  strait- 
jacket  or  temporary  confinement  would  have  been  the 
proper  treatment  in  many  cases  that  were  consigned  to 
the  scourge  or  the  scaffold.  The  vagaries  of  morbid  minds, 
not  morally  accountable  for  the  indecencies  they  committed, 
were  visited  with  the  same  penalties  that  awaited  the  rob- 
ber or  the  assassin.^  Nor  was  severity  confined  to  cases 
like  these,  but  people  of  blameless  conduct  alike  suffered, 
on  the  same  ground,  for  heretical  opinions.  For  five  years 
this  persecution  continued,  until  stayed  by  an  order  from 
Charles  11.^  requiring  that  capital  and  corporal  punish- 
ments of  the  Quakers  should  cease,  and  that  such  as  were 
obnoxious  should  be  sent  to  England.^  That  Rhode  Island 
became  a  city  of  refuge  for  those  who  fled  from  this  fiery 

"  Oct.  19th,  1658. 

^  "  At  Boston  one  George  Wilson,  and  at  Cambridge  Elizabeth  Horton 
went  crying  throuajh  the  streets  that  the  Lord  was  coming  with  fire  and  sword 
to  plead  with  them.  Thomas  Xewhouse  went  into  the  meeting  house  at  Bos- 
ton with  a  couple  of  glass  bottles,  and  broke  them  before  the  congregation, 
and  threatened  '  Thus  will  the  Lord  break  you  in  pieces.'  Another  time  M. 
Brewster  came  in  with  her  face  smeared  and  as  black  as  a  coal.  Deborah 
Wilson  went  through  the  streets  of  Salem  naked  as  she  came  into  the  world, 
for  which  she  was  well  whipped.  One  of  the  sect  apologizing  for  this  be- 
havior said,  '  If  the  Lord  did  stir  up  any  of  his  daughters  to_be  a  sign  of 
the  nakedness  of  others,  he  believed  it  to  be  a  great  cross  to  a  modest  woman's 
spirit,  but  the  Lord  must  be  obeyed.'  "  Hutch.  Mass.,  i.  203-4.  A  display 
of  prurient  piety  like  this  last  occurred  also  in  one  of  the  churches.  New 
England  Judged,  Part  ii.  p.  69. 

^  9th  Sept.,  1661. 

^  See  Hutchinson's  Mass.,  i.  196-20-1  ;  Bishop's  New  England  Judged, 
Part  1st,  -Ito.,  176  pp.  Loudon,  1661,  and  Part  2d,  4to.,  147  pp.,  1667.  New 
England  Ensign,  London,  1659,  4to.,  121  pp.  Several  Rhode  Island  people 
were  victims  of  this  persecution,  whose  sufferings  will  be  noticed  in  the  proper 
place  Mary,  wife  of  Wm.  Dyre,  Secretary  of  Rhode  Island  colony,  was  put 
to  death,  and  Thomas  Harris  and  others  were  severely  maltreated. 


266  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

ordeal  vexed  the  United  Colonies.  The  Commissionera^ 
assembled  at  Boston,  wrote  a  letter  urging  Rhode  Island 
to  banish  the  Quakers  already  there  and  to  prohibit  any 
more  from  coming  to  the  State.'  To  this  request  the 
President  and  Assistants,  met  at  the  Court  of  trials  in 
Providence,  replied,  that  there  was  no  law  by  which  men 
could  be  punished  in  Rhode  Island  for  their  opinions,  and 
that  the  Quakers  being  unmolested,  were  becomi»g  dis- 
gusted at  their  want  of  success  ;  but  that  in  case  of  any 
extravagancies,  like  those  referred  to,  being  committed,  the 
16.57-8.  next  General  Assembly  would  provide  a  corrective.  That 
13'  '  body  met  at  Portsmouth  and  addressed  another  letter  to 
the  Massachusetts  on  the  same  subject.  In  this  letter 
they  say  that  freedom  of  conscience  was  the  ground  of 
their  charter  and  shall  be  maintained  ;  that  if  the  Qua- 
kers violate  the  laws  or  refuse  to  conform  thereto  in  any 
respect,  complaint  against  them  will  be  made  in  England 
and  the  more  readily  as  these  people  are  there  tolerated.'^ 
On  the  same  day  a  letter  was  sent  to  Plymouth  deny- 
ing the  claim  set  up  by  that  colony  to  Hog  island,  which 
was  purchased  by  Richard  Smith  from  Wamsutta,  sachem 
of  the  Wampanoags.  The  question  was  left  to  the  Pres- 
ident and  Thomas  Willett  to  be  settled,  by  whom  it  was 
advised  to  adjust  the  matter  by  arbitration,  which  after 
much  delay  Avas  done,  and  the  right  of  Rhode  Island  to 
the  land  in  dispute  ultimately  sustained.  Hope  island 
had  been  given  to  Roger  Williams  by  Miantinomi  many 
years  before  but  was  still  occupied  by  Indians.  Tlie  Court 
ordered  that  the  Sachems  should  remove  their  subjects  to 
leave  Mr.  Williams  in  possession.  Gould  island  had  been 
purchased  of  the  Indians  a  year  before^  by  Thomas  Gould, 
and  about  the  same  time^  the  great  Pettiquamscut  pur- 

1  Hazanl,  ii.  370-1. 

^  Both  these  letters  and  also  that  to  which  they  are  the  replies,  are  giveu 
in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  374-380. 

•'  March  28th,  1657.  *  January  20th,  1657. 


PAWTUXET    MEN    RETURN    TO    THEIR    ALLEGIANCE.  267 

chase,  in  what  is  now  South  Kingston,  was  commenced,   chap, 
Repeated  additions  Avere  made  to  this  tract,  and  difficulties  JL^I^ 
with  adjoining  purchasers  arose  when  the  claims  of  Massa-  1658 
chusetts  to  the  Narraganset  country  came  to  be  urged.' 
These  frequent  purchases  caused  so  much  trouble  that  the 
Assembly  soon  afterwards  prohibited  any  further  purchases 
of  land  or  islands  from  the  Indians  within  the  colony  with-    "  2. 
out  express  permission  from  that  body,  on  pain  of  forfeiture 
of  the  land,  and  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  besides. 

At  the  general  election,  held  in  Warwick,  the  only  Jg^ 
changes  made  were  in  the  Assistants  for  Providence  and 
Newport  ;  William  Field  being  chosen  for  the  former  and 
Joseph  Clarke  for  the  latter.  All  the  other  offices  remained 
as  before.  Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  England 
and  Holland  the  law  prohibiting  trade  with  the  Dutch  was 
repealed,  but  there  were  still  some  lawless  persons,  who, 
pretending  commissions  from  Rhode  Island,  annoyed  the 
Dutch  commerce  by  seizing  their  goods  and  vessels.  To 
prevent  their  recurrence  these  outrages  were  denounced  as 
felony.  The  order  to  build  prisons  and  cages  not  having 
been  obeyed,  it  was  repealed,  and  the  prison  built  at  New- 
port was  directed  to  be  for  the  colony  use,  the  other  towns 
contributing  towards  its  cost. 

The  long  pending  difficulties  with  the  Pawtuxet  men 
were  now  terminated  by  their  withdrawal  from  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts,  and  acknowledging  allegiance  to 
Rhode  Island.  William  Arnold  and  William  Carpenter, 
for  themselves  and  their  friends,  petitioned  the  General 
Court  for  a  full  discharge  of  their  persons  and  estates  from  o^^ 
subjection  to  Massachusetts,  This  was  granted  provided 
they  rendered  an  account  of  their  proceedings  against  the 
Warwick  men  under  the  commission  of  Massachusetts  fif- 

'  The  details  and  subsequent  history  of  this  purchase  are  given  by  Mr. 
Potter,  iu  K.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  275-99.  The  original  proprietors  were  Samuel 
Wilbor,  John  Hull  of  Boston,  John  Porter,  Samuel  Wilson,  Thomas  Mum- 
ford.  At  a  later  period  William  Brenton  and  Benedict  Arnold  were  admit- 
ted. 


268  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

teen  years  before,  and  that  the  Greenes  and  others  should 
have  liberty  to  prosecute  them  in  any  of  the  Massachusetts 
1658.  Courts' for  injuries  received  thereby.  This  happy  result 
was  effected  by  the  mediation  of  Roger  Williams.  At  the 
next  General  Court  in  October  the  sentence  of  banishment 
against  the  Warwick  men  was  so  far  relaxed  that  leave 
was  granted  to  John  Greene,  sen.,  to  visit  his  friends  for 
one  month.  The  bond  required  from  Arnold  to -answer 
any  suit  brought  by  the  Greenes  was  limited  ta-one  year, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  period  he  petitioned  the  Court 
for  certain  amounts  of  damage  sustained  by  him  in  execut- 
ing the  commission  against  the  Gortonists.  The  account 
was  referred  and  ultimately  extended,  and  in  part  allowed, 
but  the  committee's  report  was  better  calculated  to  satisfy 
the  Greenes  than  the  petitioner.'^ 
gg  J.  The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  wrote  to  all 

23.  the  General  Courts  urorin";  severer  measures  against  the 
29_"  Quakers.  Massachusetts  acted  at  once  on  the  suggestion, 
and  passed  a  law  punishing  with  death  any  Quakers  who 
should-  return  after  sentence  of  banishment.  Rhode  Island 
again  was  urged  to  join  in  the  fierce  oppression.  Threats 
of  exclusion  from  all  intercourse  or  trade  with  the  rest  of 
New  England  were  made  to  force  her  from  her  fidelity  to 
the  cause  of  religious  freedom,  but  in  vain.  The  result 
was  an  appeal  to  Cromwell  by  the  General  Assembly  that 
"  they  may  not  be  compelled  to  exercise  any  civil  power 
5  *  over  men's  consciences,  so  long  as  human  orders,  in  point 
of  civility,  are  not  corrupted  or  violated."  A  letter  was 
sent  to  John  Clarke  to  be  presented  to  His  Highness, 
which  contains  this  request,  and  clearly  distinguishes  be- 
tween the  rights  of  conscience  and  the  duties  of  the  cit- 
izen.^ 

'  M.  C.  R.  iv.  Part  i.  p.  333. 

*  The  petition  was  Oct.  18th,  1G59.  The  report  was  made  Nov.  12th. 
See  M.  C.  R.,  iv.  Part  i.  411,  and  R.  I.  H.  C,  ii.  200-12.  He  afterwards, 
IGG3,  presented  an  extended  account,  which  was  bettled  by  compromise,  Oct 
21st,  1663.     M.  C.  R.,  iv.  Part  ii.  p.  78,  93. 

^  This  letter  is  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  396-9. 


Nov 


PERSECUTION    OF    THE    QUAKERS.  269 

While  Rhode  Island  was  thus  defending  her  liberal  chap. 
sentiments,  her  citizens  without  distinction  of  sex  or  age  .^_,.,^ 
were  suffering  from  Puritan  persecutions.     A  Mrs.  Gardner  lfio8. 
of  Newport,  the  mother  of  several  children,  and  a  woman     W^ 
of  good  report,  having  become  a  Quaker,  went  to  Wey- 
mouth, with  an  infant  at  her  breast,  taking  with  her  a 
nurse,  Mary  Stanton,  to  attend   the   child.     There  they 
were  arrested  and  taken  before  Governor  Endicot  by  whom 
they  were  sent  to  prison,  flogged  with  ten  stripes  each,  and 
closely  confined  for  two  weeks.'     Thomas  Harris  of  Bar- 
badoes,  who  had  settled  in  Rhode  Island,  went  to  Boston 
with  two  others  of  the  same  sect,  where,  after  servdce  at     .]„„e 
church,  he  gave  great  ofience  by  haranguing  the  congrega-      lo- 
tion, an  indiscretion  which  may  have  deserved  some  pun- 
ishment but  not  the  severity  he  received.     He  was  flogged, 
imprisoned  for  eleven  days,  during  five  of  which  he  was  not 
allowed  food  or  water,  because  he  refused  to  work  at  the     22 
jailer's  bidding,  severely  whipped  by  the  jailer,  and  again 
publicly  with  several  others,  receiving  fifteen  stripes.^ 

Catharine,  wife  of  Richard  Scot  of  Providence,  and  sister 
of  the  celebrated  Ann  Hutchinson,  met  with  a  similar  fate. 
She  went  to  Boston  to  witness  the  mutilation  of  three    %^P^' 

ib. 

of  her  brethren,  whose  right  ears  were  cut  off"  by  the  hang- 
man in  execution  of  the  law  against  Quakers.  For  re- 
monstrating upon  this  cruelty  she  was  imprisoned  for  two 
weeks  and  then  publicly  flogged.^  She  was  advanced  in  Oct. 
(ife,  had  been  married  twenty  years,  and  was  the  mother  of 
several  children,  two  of  whom  sufiered  in  the  same  cause. 
The  severity  of  these  proceedings  and  the  increasing  rigor 
of  the  statutes  passed  at  every  session  of  the  General  Court 
against  the  Quakers,  caused  many  of  them  to  seek  a  home 
in  Rhode  Island.  But  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  was  not 
yet  appeased.     From  fine  and  imprisonment  it  proceeded 

'  New  England  Ensign,  72-3.     Bishop's  New  England  Judged,  -47. 
'  July  19th.     New  England  Ensign,  73-5. 
•  New  England  Judged,  75. 


270  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   to  apply  whipping  and  mutilation,  then  banishment,  and 
2,1^  finally  death  to  the  unfortunate  Quakers.     This  last  out- 
1658.  rage  upon  humanity  was  opposed  by  the  deputies  and  by 
19  '     the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  were  always  ahead  of 
their  rulers  in  liberal  feeling  and  in  their  sense  of  justice 
and  of  right.     The  magistrates  and  clergy'  were  zealous 
in  its  favor.     The  deputies  yielded  by  a  majority  of  one, 
and  thus  placed  another  blot  on  the  annals  of  Massachu- 
setts to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  Puritan  legislation.     The 
next  year  was  to  witness  the  execution  of  this  cruel  statute 
in  the  case  of  a  Rhode  Island  victim. 
]vrov.  To  prevent  further  trouble  like  that  which  had  just 

2-  been  so  fortunately  ended  with  Pawtuxet,  the  Assembly, 
convened  at  Warwick,  decreed  that  no  one  should  here- 
after submit  his  lands  to  any  other  jurisdiction,  or  attempt 
to  bring  in  any  foreign  government  within  the  colony  od 
pain  of  confiscation.  No  law  was  to  be  in  force  until 
twenty  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Assembly.  This 
was  to  allow  ten  days  for  the  recorder  to  furnish  each  town 
clerk  with  a  copy  of  the  acts  of  the  session,  and  ten  more 
for  the  towns  to  consider  them,  and  if  they  disapproved  to 
notify  the  President  and  thus  to  annul  the  statute.  The 
Assembly  decided  to  have  but  one  annual  session,  to  be 
held  at  the  May  election,  but  this  was  rarely  found  to  suf- 
fice. They  also  reduced  the  sittings  of  the  Court  of  trials 
to  two,  in  March  and  October.  The  President  and  General 
Council  might  call  extra  meetings  of  the  Assembly.  This 
council  was  composed  of  the  President,  Assistants,  and 
Q^.^  town  Magistrates.  No  law  creating  it  can  be  found,  and 
14.  but  three  meetings  appear  on  the  records — one  at  War- 
wick, just  prior  to  this  session,  at  which  no  business  of  im- 
portance was  transacted,  and  the  other  two  at  Providence 
in  the  following  spring.     At  the  first  of  these,  warrants 

*  "  In  hsereticos  gladio  viijdicaudura  est,"  was  a  motto  of  Calvin,  as  well 
as  of  Koine,  and  too  faithfully  followed  by  his  stern  disciples  in  Massachu- 
setts. 


15. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  271 

were  issued  to  arrest  Pumham  for  insurrection  in  causing  chap. 

a  riot  to  rescue  a  felon  in  Warwick,  and  some  other  Indians  s.^^.,,,^ 

for  robbery  committed  upon  William  Arnold  at  Pawtuxet.  l^^^-^- 
^  .  .  Muich 

Two  days  afterward  the  council  met  for  the  last  time  to  9. 
publish  the  proclamation  of  Richard,  Lord  Protector,  who 
had  succeeded  to  the  supreme  authority  on  the  death  of 
his  father  in  September.  It  was  ordered  to  be  read  at 
town  meeting,  and  at  the  head  of  every  military  company 
in  the  colony  on  the  following  Tuesday. 

At  the  general  election  held  in  Providence  the  same  165  9, 
officers  were  retained  throughout,  except  Knight,  Sergeant,  ^^^ 
who  was  displaced  by  James  Rogers.  The  dispute  with 
Plymouth  about  Hog  island  not  having  been  settled,  the 
Assembly  again  appointed  four  Commissioners  to  meet 
the  same  number  from  Plymouth  to  adjust  this  matter,  and 
also  the  general  boundary  of  the  two  colonies,  and  notified 
Plymouth  accordingly.  Four  men,  one  from  each  town, 
were  also  appointed  to  mark  out  the  western  bounds  of  the 
colony,  but  nothing  was  done  about  it  for  the  present. 
The  Indians  gave  much  trouble  by  stealing  the  goods  and 
cattle  of  the  colonists.  A  severe  law  was  passed  to  prevent 
it.  If  the  damage  exceeded  twenty  shillings,  the  convict 
might  be  sold  as  a  slave  to  any  English  plantation  abroad, 
unless  he  made  restitution,  and  if  less  than  that  sum  he 
should  restore  twofold,  or  be  whipped  not  more  than  fif- 
teen stripes.  The  Assembly  addressed  a  letter  to  Richard 
Cromwell  asking  a  confirmation  of  their  charter.  It  was 
never  presented,  as  the  Protector  had  resigned  his  power 
before  it  reached  England.  A  tax  of  fifty  pounds  was  laid 
to  pay  for  ammunition,  and  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
agent  in  London.  Providence  and  Wai-wick  were  each  to 
pay  nine  pounds,  Portsmouth  fourteeen,  and  Newport 
eighteen  pounds.  Providence  was  allowed  to  buy  out  and 
remove  the  Indians  within  its  limits,  and  to  enlarge  its 
bounds  by  further  purchase.  Leave  was  also  granted  to 
purchase  certain  other  lands,  and  a  committee  appointed 


272  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

for  that  purpose.  Fox  island  and  an  adjoining  tract  on 
the  main  near  Wickford,  were  bought  by  Holden  and  Gor- 
ton, and  soon  afterwards  Humphrey  Atherton,  John  Win- 
throp  and  others,  not  citizens  of  Hhode  Ishmd,  bought  two 
large  tracts  on  the  bay,  one  called  Quidnesett,  north  of 
Wickford,  and  the  other,  called  Namcook,  now  Boston 
j^]^,  neck,  south  of  it.  This  purchase  was  in  violation  of  an 
4.  express  law  of  Rhode  Island.  Its  validity  depended  on  the 
decision  of  the  question  of  jurisdiction  over  the  Narragan- 
set  country,  claimed  by  Rhode  Island  and  disputed  by  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts.  Roger  Williams  warned  Ath- 
erton upon  this  point,  and  refused  the  offers  of  land  made 
to  induce  him  to  aid  as  interpreter  in  the  purchase.  It 
became  a  fruitful  source  of  difficulty  for  many  years.  The 
23.  Assembly  met  at  Portsmouth,  and  apj)ointed  a  committee 
of  two  from  each  town  to  write  to  the  Commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies,  to  Massachusetts,  and  to  Atherton, 
respecting  these  purchases.  During  the  Debate  on  this 
question  the  Assembly  sat  with  closed  doors.  They  pre- 
j^ared  to  prosecute  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island  before  Par- 
liament, and  empowered  the  committee  to  call  together 
the  Assembly  when  they  saw  fit. 

Potowomut  was  ordered  to  be  purchased  for  the  colony 
from  the  Indians.  Hog  island  continued  to  be  a  source 
of  trouble.  Richard  Smith  claiming  it  adversely  to  the 
colony,  and  threatening  any  who  should  molest  him  in  his 
possession,  the  Assembly  resolved  to  bear  them  harmless. 
Smith  sought  to  place  the  island  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Plymouth.  Robert  Westcott,  a  member  from  Warwick, 
was  tried  for  a  similar  ofience  and  sus]>ended,  and  John 
Weeks  was  chosen  by  the  Assembly  to  fill  his  place.  A 
further  tax  of  fifty  pounds  was  laid,  of  which  Newport  was 
to  pay  twenty,  Providence  eleven,  Portsmouth  ten,  and 
Warwick  nine  pounds.  Newport  it  ajjpears  had  doubled 
in  wealth  over  Portsmouth,  and  Providence  for  the  first 
time   seems  to  have  gained  upon  the  other  two  towns 


PERSECUTION   OF   THE    QUAKERS.  273 

Letters  from  John  Clarke  informed  the  colony  of  the  Pro- 
tector's resignation,  and  that  the  Parliament  was  the  sole 
authority,  as  before  the  accession  of  Cromwell.  All  legal  165  9. 
process  was  therefore  ordered  to  issue  "  in  the  name  of  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England." 
The  first  instance  of  the  appointment  of  a  deputy  sergeant 
occurred  at  this  session.  James  Kogers,  Sergeant  General, 
was  allowed  to  appoint  a  deputy  to  serve  writs  and  execu- 
tions, he  being  responsible  for  the  acts  of  such  deputy. 

The  zeal  of  Puritan  persecution  was  inflamed  by  the 
rancor  of  the  magistrates  and  clergy.  Among  those  who 
had  already  suffered  imprisonment  for  their  adhesion  to 
the  novel  and  "  cursed  heresy,"  was  Mary,  wife  of  William 
Dyre,  the  first  secretary  of  Aquedneck.  Returning  from 
England,  whither  she  had  probably  accompanied  her  hus- 
band when  he  went  over  with  Williams  and  Clarke,  but 
had  remained  behind  and  there  had  embraced  the  new 
tenets,  with  no  knowledge  of  what  had  been  done  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, she  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.  With 
difficulty  she  was  released  by  her  husband  giving  bonds 
to  take  her  immediately  away,  and  not  to  suffer  her  to 
speak  to  any  one  on  the  journey  homeward.  Afterwards 
in  company  with  other  friends,  Hope  Clifton,  and  Mary, 
daughter  of  Catherine  Scot,  whose  sister  Patience,  a  girl  of  g  ' 
only  eleven  years,  was  then  in  prison  for  the  same  offence, 
she  ventured  again  into  Massachusetts  to  visit  some  friends 
confined  in  Boston  as  Quakers.  Her  two  companions  were 
only  imprisoned,  but  Mary  Dyre,  having  been  before  ban- 
ished under  pain  of  death,  was  tried,  together  with  Wil-  ^^^ 
liam  Robinson  and  Marmaduke  Stevenson,  and  condemned 
to  death.  The  sentence  was  executed  upon  the  two  men.  27. 
Mary  was  reprieved  while  on  the  gallows,  after  her  two 
fellow-sufferers  had  been  swung  off".'  With  singular  in- 
fatuation she  returned  in  the  following  spring,  for  the  third  16  6  0 
time,  while  the  General  Court  was  in  session,  was  arrested      gQ^ 

'  New  England  Judged,  38,  97,  109. 
VOL.  I — 18 


274  HISTORY   or   the    state   of   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  and  hung.'     There  were  other  instances  of  this  revolting 

_____  cruelty  practised  upon   persons   not    resident  in    Rhode 

16  6  0    Island,  and  which  continued  till  Charles  II.  peremptorily 

forbade  any  further  murders  to  be  perpetrated,  in  the  name 

May    of  God,  by  these  infuriated  zealots. 
22 

The  next  general  election  was  held  at  Portsmouth, 

"William  Brenton  was  chosen  President,  William  Field  of 
Providence,  Wilham  Baulston  of  Portsmouth,  Benedict 
Arnold,  late  President,  of  Newport,  and  John  "Greene  of 
Warwick,  Assistants,  John  Sanford,  Recorder  and  Treas- 
urer, James  Rogers,  Sergeant,  John  Easton,  Attorney 
General,  and  Richard  Bulgar,  SoHcitor  General.  An  im- 
portant modification  of  the  statute  regulating  the  mode 
of  annulling  laws  was  made.  In  place  of  ten  days,  three 
months  was  allowed  for  the  towns  to  return  their  votes 
upon  any  new  law,  after  its  presentation,  and  instead  of  a 
majority  of  freemen  in  each  town  being  necessary  to  annul 
a  law,  a  majority  of  those  in  the  Colony  was  now  sufficient, 
even  although  any  one  town  made  no  returns  against  it. 
This  was  a  great  step  towards  consolidation,  and  tended 
to  strengthen  the  Colonial  Government. 

A  great  change  was  in  progress  at  this  time  in  English 
affairs.  Charles  II.  landed  in  England,  and  amid  the  joyful 
'.  shouts  of  his  subjects,  entered  London  in  triumph.  The 
restoration  was  complete,  not  only  in  form  but  in  sub- 
stance. The  great  mass  of  the  people  received  their  mon- 
arch with  delight,  for  they  desired  relief  from  the  turmoil 
of  civil  strife.  The  religious  parties  united  in  the  ovations 
that  welcomed  his  return,  and  each  vied  with  the  other  in 
demonstrations  of  loyalty.  The  Episcopalians  hated 
Cromwell  because  he  had  crushed  them,  the  Puritans  dis- 
liked him  for  curbing  their  persecuting  zeal,  while  the 
Roman  Catholics  hailed  tlie  return  of  the  Stuarts  as  being 
a  family  who  sympathized  with  their  own  faith. 

The  news  of  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  occasioned 
a   special   meeting   of  the  assembly  at  Warwick.     His 

»  June  1,  M,  C.  R.  iv.  Part  i.  419. 


SACHEMS  MORTGAGE  LANDS  TO  THE  ATHERTON  COMPANY.   275 

Majesty's  letter  to  Parliament,  his  declaration  and  pro- 
clamation were  read  and  entered  upon  the  records.  The 
King  was  formally  proclaimed  at  eight  o'clock  the  next  16t)0. 
morning,  in  presence  of  the  Assembly,  with  military  21.' 
honors,  and  the  following  Wednesday  was  appointed  for 
his  public  proclamation  throughout  the  colony,  and  was 
made  a  general  hohday.  All  legal  process  was  to  issue  in 
His  Majesty's  name.  A  commission  was  sent  to  John 
Clarke  confirming  his  position  as  agent  for  the  colony,  and 
desiring  him  to  obtain  a  confirmation  of  the  charter  from 
the  crown. 

A  committee  was  also  appointed  to  treat  with  Ather- 
ton  and  his  comj^any  about  their  purchase  in  Narraganset, 
and  to  arrange  the  terms  upon  which  they  might  come 
into  the  colony,  or  if  they  refused  to  treat,  then  to  forbid 
them  from  entering  on  their  lands.  They  reported  but 
partial  progress  at  the  next  session,  and  were  continued. 

Meanwhile  a  great  wrong  was  committed  upon   the     'gif 
Narraganset  Indians  by  the  commissioners  of  the  United 
Colonies,  who,    for    alleged    injuries    inflicted    upon    the 
Mohegans,  which  were    denied  by  the    Narraganset    Sa- 
chems, levied  a  heavy  fine  upon   them,  and    compelled 
them,  by  an  armed  force,  to  mortgage  their  whole  country    g    . 
for  the  payment  of  a  sum,  amounting  to  five  hundred  and      29 
ninety-five  fathoms  of  peage  within  four  months.     In  a     Oct. 
month  from   this  time  the    Sachems  mortgaged   to  the 
Atherton  company  all  the  unsold  lands  in  Narraganset,  on 
condition  that  they  would  pay  the  fine  to   the  United 
Colonies,  and  further  bound  themselves  to  sell  no  more 
lands  without   consent  of  the  mortgagees.     Six  months 
was  allowed  for  redemption.     Atherton  paid  the  fine  ;  the 
land  was  not  redeemed,  and  afterwards,  in  the  spring  of 
1662,  the    Sachems   delivered   formal   possession   to  the 
mortgagees.     Upon  so  slight    a  transaction,  founded   in 
force,  and  followed  up  in  that  spirit  of  acquisition  which 
aimed  at  the  possession  of  *  the  whole  of  Rhode   Island, 


276  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF   EHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   rested  the  claims  of  a  company  that  was  destined  to  giv^e 

v-~r^  so  much  trouble  to  the  colony. 

1661.  ipj^g  same  President,  Assistants,  Attorney-General 
21.'  and  Sergeant  were  re-elected  at  Newport.  Joseph  Torrey 
was  chosen  Recorder,  Caleb  Carr,  Treasurer,  and  Peter 
Tallman,  Solicitor-General.  The  assembly  passed  a 
lengthy  act  acknowledging  their  submission  to  the  King, 
22.  proposing  to  send  a  special  agent  to  England  to  present  it 
in  a  humble  address  to  His  Majesty,  and  voting^a  tax  of 
two  hundred  pounds  for  that  purpose.  The  plan  was 
2-^*  given  up  on  receipt  of  letters  from  John  Clarke,  which 
were  read  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  court  of  commission- 
ers at  Portsmouth.  A  letter  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Clarke  was 
voted,  and  the  commission,  prepared  in  October,  was  order- 
ed to  be  sent  to  him.  The  tax  was  apportioned,  eighty- 
five  pounds  to  Newport,  forty  pounds  each  to  Prondence 
and  Portsmouth,  and  thirty-five  pounds  to  Warwick.  It 
was  to  be  raised  by  voluntary  contribution  for  the  use  of 
the  agent. 

An  extensive  purchase,  made  the  previous  year,  by 
some  Newport  men,  in  the  south-west  part  of  the  Narra- 
ganset  country,  called  Misquamicock,  now  Westerly,  be- 
gan to  be  settled,  and  gave  rise  to  further  difiiculties  of 
propriety  and  jurisdiction.'  At  this  session  the  purchasers 
petitioned  for  the  approval  and  assistance  of  the  colony  in 
making  a  settlement  there,  which  was  granted.  The 
commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  took  up  the  dispute 
in  behalf  of  Massachusetts,  and  wrote  to  Rhode  Island  re- 

'  This  tract  was  given  to  Socho,  a  brave  captain  of  the  Narragansets,  by 
Canonicus  and  Miantinomi,  for  services  rendered  about  1635,  in  driving  off  a 
party  of  Pequots  who  had  settled  there  prior  to  the  war  between  the  Pequots 
and  English  in  1G37.  It  was  deeded  by  Socho,  Jan.  29th,  1660,  to  William 
Vauglian,  Robert  Stanton,  John  Fairfield,  Hugh  Mosher,  James  Longbottom 
and  others  of  Newport,  and  the  original  deed  to  Socho  was  confirmed  by  Pes- 
sicus,  2-lth  June,  1661,  at  which  time  Ninigret  claimed  the  tract,  but  his 
nephew  Pessicus  denied  his  right  thereto.  The  documents  relating  to  this 
subject  and  the  records  of  the  Westerly  proprietors  are  given  by  Mr.  Potter  in 
Early  Hist,  of  Nar't.  R.  I.  H.  C,  iu.  241-75. 


SEIZURE    OF    SAUNDERS    AND    BURDETT.  277 

specting  this  and  the  Pettiquamscot  purchase,  protesting  chap 

against  the  comluct  of  Rhode  Island  in  permitting  them  .^ ^^ 

to  be  made.     Massachusetts,  by  whom  the  Pequot  country  1_6  6 1. 
was  claimed  by  right  of  conquest,  had  erected  the  tract  on      ^3^ " 
each  side  of  the  Pawcatuck  river  into  a  township  called 
Southertown,  and  attached  it  to  the   county  of  Suffolk. 
Complaints  from  this  town  were  now  made  to  the  General 
Court,  of  the  intrusion  of  some  thirty-six   settlers  from 
Rhode  Island  into  that  part  of  the  town  east  of  Paw- 
catuck river,  being  the  Westerly  purchase,  claiming  it  as 
their  own.     Upon  this  a  warrant  was  issued  by  the  coun-      25  * 
cil  of  Massachusetts  to  the  constable  of  Southertown  to  ar- 
rest the   trespassers.     Tobias   Saunders,  Robert  Burdett, 
and  Joseph  Clarke  were  seized.     Clarke  was  released,  and    Nov. 
the  others  were  taken  to  Boston  as  prisoners,  and  commit- 
ted for  want  of  bail.     The  magistrates  sent  a  letter  to    Dec. 
Rhode  Island,  inquiring  if  the  conduct  of  these  trespass-      ^^ 
ers  was  sanctioned  by  that  government,  and  saying  if  it 
were  so,  Massachusetts  would  prepare  to  defend  her  peo- 
ple in  their  just  rights.     Receiving  no  reply,  another  let-  j  j.  g  o 
ter  was  soon  after  sent,  by  special  messengers,  asserting  March 

Q 

her  claim  to  all  Rhode  Island,  "  from  Pequot  river  to  Ply- 
mouth line,"  under  the   Narraganset  patent,'  and  avowing 
her  determination  to  make  it  good.     At  the  next  session 
of  the  General  Court  the  two  prisoners  were  brought  to 
trial.     They  were  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  forty  pounds,     May 
and  to  be  imprisoned  till  it  was  paid,  and  also  to  give      '^• 
sureties  for  one  hundred  pounds  to  keep  the  peace. ^     A 
third  letter  was  then  written,  informing  Rhode  Island  of 
the  trial  of  these  men,  and  requiring  her  to  cause  the  set-      1^. 
tiers  at  Pettiquamscot   and  Southertown  to  vacate  their 
lands  before  the  end  of  June,  or  they  should  be  treated  as 
Saunders  and  Burdett  had  been.     But  Rhode  Island  was 
not  to  be  intimidated  by  the  threats  of  her  powerful  neigh- 

*  Obtained  Dec.  10th,  1643,  ante  ch.  iv. 
''  M.  C.  R.  iv.     Part  2d,  p.  U. 


22. 


278  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  bor,  whose  efforts  against  her  peace  and  existence  had  sc 
..^^^  often  been  thwarted  by  her  firmness,  sanctioned  by  the 
16  6  2.  subsequent  approval  of  her  conduct  by  the  Supreme  Gov- 
ernment in  England.  Kelying,  as  she  ever  had  done,  on 
the  justice  of  her  cause,  and  looking  to  her  right  of  appeal 
to  the  King  and  Parliament,  through  the  medium  of  hei 
able  and  faithful  agent,  John  Clarke,  she  maintained  her 
position.  The  Court  of  Commissioners,  met  at  Warwick, 
20.  sent  to  Daniel  Gookin  and  others,  subjects  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  had  intruded  at  Westerly,  prohibiting  them 
from  planting  or  building  there  until  the  order  of  the 
King  on  that  matter  could  be  known.  ^  A  letter  in  rej)ly 
to  Massachusetts  was  prepared,  defending  the  conduct  of 
Saunders  and  Burdett,  and  denying  that  the  Pequot  re- 
gion ever  extended  east  of  Pawcatuck  river,  or  that  Massa- 
chusetts had  any  claim  to  the  Narraganset  country.  The 
terms  of  the  letter  were  as  courteous  as  the  subject  would 
permit.  Two  messengers  were  appointed  to  cany  it  to 
Boston.2 

At  this  general  election  Benedict  Arnold  was  chosen 
President,  over  William  Brenton  ;  Kichard  Tew,  Assist- 
ant for  Newport,  John  Sandford,  Treasurer,  and  Richard 
Bulffar,  Solicitor.  The  other  officers  continued  as  be- 
fore,  but  the  Attorney  General  declining  to  serve,  John 
Sandford  was  chosen  to  that  place  in  June.  These  ofii- 
cers  were  re-elected  the  following  year,  and  served  until 
the  adoption  of  the  Eoyal  Charter. 

Wampum-j)eage  ujj  to  this  time  had  been  the  princi- 
pal circulating  medium  in  Rhode  Island.     The  other  colo- 

'  This  prohibition  does  not  appear  on  the  records  of  the  May  session, 
which  be^an  on  the  22d,  while  this  document  is  dated  the  20th.  There  waa 
perhaps  a  special  meeting  of  the  Court  prior  to  the  general  election  two  days 
later.  It  is  found  in  the  files  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  and  is 
printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  463,  with  the  three  letters  from  Massachusetti 
above  refeiTcd  to,  and  other  papers  on  the  same  subject. 

^  I'hese  were  John  Green  and  John  Sandford.  The  letter  is  in  R,  1.  CoL 
Rec,  i  469-73. 


THE  COLONY  DETERMINES  TO  MAINTAIN  ITS  RIGHTS.  279 

nies  had  Ions:  since  abandoned  it.  It  had  now  fallen  so  chap. 
much  in  value  that  it  was  declared  to  be  no  longer  legal  ^^^.^ 
tender,  and  all  taxes  and  costs  of  court  were  required  to  be  16  6  2. 
paid  "  in  current  pay,"  that  is,  in  Sterling  or  in  New  Eng- 
land coin.'  The  confusion  of  land  titles  had  become  so 
great,  that  a  law  was  passed  vesting  the  fee  in  whoever, 
having  possession,  should  record  his  claim  within  thirteen 
months,  if  on  the  spot  ;  and  this  record,  if  undisputed 
within  that  time,  should  perfect  the  title  even  against  the 
real  owner.  To  those  living  in  other  colonies  one  year 
more  was  given,  and  to  those  living  beyond  the  sea  two 
years  longer  were  allowed  to  establish  their  right.  The 
President  or  any  Assistant  was  empowered  to  appoint  con- 
stables at  any  of  the  new  settlements  in  Narraganset  to 
keep  the  peace.  This  act  evinced  the  fixed  determination 
of  Rhode  Island  to  maintain  her  rights  in  the  disputed 
territory.  The  Court  adjourned  till  the  next  month,  to 
await  the  return  of  the  messengers  sent  to  Massachusetts. 
They  did  not  reach  Boston  till  the  General  Court  had  ad-  June 
journed.  To  prevent  the  mischief  that  might  result  from  ' ' 
the  contents  of  their  letter  not  being  generally  known, 
leave  was  granted  for  any  person  to  send  copies  of  it,  and 
of  the  prohibition,  to  their  friends  in  Massachusetts. 
Liberty  to  buy  land  of  the  Indians  was  also  given  to  sev- 
eral parties.  These  purchases  soon  became  too  frequent 
to  be  specially  noticed. 

Letters  were  constantly  passing  between  the  colony 
and  its  agent.  Measures  of  vital  importance  to  the  wel- 
fare of  Rhode  Island  were  in  progress.  The  position  she 
occupied  was  anomalous,  and  required  great  tact  and 
ability  to  sustain.  The  charter,  by  which  she  existed, 
was  obtained  from  an    authority  inimical   to  the   king, 

'Massachusetts  had  begun  to  coin  silver  in  1652.  Shillings  and  six- 
ponces,  all  of  which  bear  the  same  date,  although  the  coinage  was  continued 
throughout  several  years,  are  still  extant.  Thirty  shillings  of  New  England 
silver  was  equal  to  twenty-two  shillings  sixpence  sterling. 


280  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  and  which  had  afterwards  dethroned  and  beheaded  his 
^^^^^  royal  father.  The  principles  she  avowed  were  totally  un- 
n»6  2.  recognized  among  men.  No  form  of  civil  government 
17  then  existing  could  tolerate  her  democracy,  and  even 
Christian  charity  denied  her  faith.  To  obtain  a  renewal 
of  privileges  so  remarkable,  to  secure  the  regard  of  a  sove- 
reign whose  arbitrary  will  was  an  inheritance,  to  obtam 
his  sanction  to  a  system  which,  initiated  as  an  experi- 
ment by  a  republican  parliament,  had  come  to  be  no  longer 
a  philosophical  problem  but  an  established  fact,  and  which, 
if  extended,  must  inevitably  in  time  overthrow  the  fabric 
of  monarchical  power — these  were  the  difficult  and  perhaps 
dangerous  duties  that  now  devolved  on  the  agent  of  Rhode 
Island.  Well  did  he  conduct  his  delicate  mission,  and 
triumphant  was  the  success  that  crowned  his  labors. 
Two  petitions  or  addresses  were  presented  to  Charles  II. 
by  John  Clarke,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Rhode  Island, 
wherein  he  recites  briefly  the  origin  of  the  colony,  and 
states  clearly  the  grounds  of  their  first  and  second  i-emoval 
for  the  cause  of  religious  liberty,  asserting  that  they 
"  haye  it  much  on  their  hearts,  if  they  may  be  permitted, 
to  hold  forth  a  lively  experiment,  that  a  flourishing  civil 
state  may  stand,  yea,  and  best  be  maintained,  and  that 
among  English  spirits,  with  a  full  liberty  in  religious  con- 
cernments," and  finally  surrendering  their  lands  and 
charter  to  the  crown,  and  craving  "a  more  absolute, 
ample,  and  free  charter  of  civil  incorporation."  ' 

While  the  existence  of  the  colony  hung  on  the  yet 

doubtful  success  of  its  agent  at  the  English  court,  affairs 

at  home  were  scarcely  more  propitious  to  its  safety  or  inde- 

Sept.    pendence.     The  subjects  of  Massachusetts  in  Narraganset 


4. 


'  The  precise  date  of  these  two  addresses  is  unknown.  They  were  found 
among  the  archives  in  the  British  State  Paper  OfBce  in  London,  and  belong 
no  doubt  to  the  year  1662.  Copies  were  made  for  the  splendid  library-  of  Mr. 
John  Carter  Brown,  which  contains  probably  the  richest  collection  of  MSS. 
and  of  rare  and  valuable  works  on  American  history  to  be  found.  These  twc 
papers  are  printed  in  Mr.  Secretary  Bartlett's  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  485-91. 


CONNECTICUT    CLAIMS    NARRAGANSET.  281 

complained  to  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  chap. 
of  the  conduct  of  Ehode  Island,  in  maintaining  her  char-  ^^ 
tered  rights  over  that  country.     The  appointment  of  con- 
stables by  the  last  General  Assembly  had  filled  the  cup 
of  New  England  indignation.     The  commissioners  now 
wrote  to  Rhode  Island,  claiming  Narraganset  for  Connec- 
ticut, imder  the  new  charter  to  that  colony  which  had  just 
been  received,  as  the  previous  year  they  had  claimed  it 
for   Massachusetts   under   the   old   Narraganset   patent. 
The  letter  concludes  with  the  usual  threat  in  case  of  non- 
compliance with  their  demands.'     Connecticut,  upon  the     Oct 
proclamation  of  her  charter,  ^  ordered  the  inhabitants  of       ^• 
Mystic  and   Pawcatuck  not  to  exercise  authority  under 
commissions   from   any  other    colony.^     This   order   was 
aimed  equally  at   Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  and 
was  justified  by  the  terms  of  the  new  charter,  which  em- 
braced the  whole  Narraganset  country.     At  the  meeting 
of  the  Court  of  Commissioners  in  Warwick,  another  letter 
was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Massachusetts  about  the  lands 
of  Pawcatuck,  in  reply  to  the  one  from  the  United  Colo- 
nies.    This  letter  was  more  severe  than  was  usual  in  the 
official  communications  of  Rhode  Island,  justly  charging 
the  Massachusetts  with  habitual  injury  to  Rhode  Island  by 
wrongful  accusations  and  unchristian  acts,  and  asserting 
that  the  Connecticut  charter,  so  far  as  it  conveyed  juris- 
diction over  the  Narraganset  country,  was  procured  by 
"  underhand  dealing,"  and  that  it  would  be  revoked.    The 
letter  further  demanded  the  release  of  Saunders  and  Bur- 
-dett,  who  still  remained  in  prison,  and  also  claimed  dam- 
ages for  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  them.     In  conclusion, 
it  offered  equal  justice  in  the  courts  of  Rhode  Island,  to 
all  parties  aggrieved  by  any  illegal  acts  of  the  Westerly 
settlers.* 

1  Hazard,  ii.  462-9.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  499. 

^  Dated  23d  April,  1662,  and  received  in  September. 

=  Coiin't  Col.  Rec,  i.  389. 

*  See  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  493-5. 


282  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

That  the  subject  of  education  received  early  attentior 
in  Rhode  Island  we  have  already  shown  in  the  chapter  on 
Aquedneck.  An  amjDle  foundation  for  its  support  was 
also  made  in  Providence,  by  the  reservation  of  one  hundred 
acres  of  upland  and  six  acres  of  meadow  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  school,  which  was  voted  in  town  meeting  at  this 
-    time. 

22.  No  changes  were  made  in  the  general  officers  at  the 

next  election.     The  session,  held  in  Providence,  was  very 
short. 

The  continued  imprisonment  of  the  two  Rhode  Island 
men  in  Massachusetts  exasperated  the  settlers  at  West- 
erly, and  led  to  a  system  of  reprisals,  and  ■  to  acts  of  vio- 
lence, seriously  disturbing  the  border  towns.  A  house 
that  had  been  built  on  the  east  side  of  Pawcatuck  river 
by  residents  of  Southertown,  being  within  the  asserted  ju- 
risdiction of  Rhode  Island,  was  torn  down.  William  Mar- 
ble, a  deputy  of  the  Marshal  of  Suffolk,  bearing  a  letter 
June.  ^°  *^^  Westerly  men  upon  this  subject,  was  arrested,  sent 
to  Newport,  and  confined  in  prison  for  eleven  months. 
Soon  after  his  release  he  petitioned  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  *  for  redress.  The  petition  is  on  the  files 
of  the  Court,  but  no  action  upon  it  is  recorded. 

By  the  third  article  of  an  agreement  made  between 

P  Clarke  and  Winthrop,  the  Atherton  Company  were  to 
choose  whether  they  would  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Rhode  Island  or  of  Connecticut.  This  agreement  was  im- 
mediately sent  over  to  America.     The  action  of  the  com- 

q  pany  was  prompt  and  decided.  They  preferred  the  gov- 
ernment of  Connecticut,  and  so  declared  in  a  formal  meet- 
ing, every  one  subscribing  a  paper  to  that  effect,  which 
was  sent  to  Hartford.     The  Governor  and  Council  imme- 

10-  diately  accepted  the  jurisdiction,  as  being  included  in  the 
limits  of  their  charter,  named  the  plantation  Wickford, 
and  appointed  Richard  Smith,  sen.,  Edward  Hutchinson, 

'  August  3d,  1664. 


KECEPTION    OF    THE    ROYAL    CHARTER.  283 

and  Joshua  Hewes,  Selectmen,  and  Kichard  Smith,  jun.,   chap 

VIII 

Constable.     Mr.  Smith's  trading-house  was  the  place  de-  . ,__ 

signated  for  the  transaction  of  public  business.  1^  ^  ^• 

The  hopes  of  Rhode  Island  received  a  further  blow  in  21. 
a  letter  from  the  king  to  the  United  Colonies,  commend- 
ing to  their  care  the  interests  of  the  Atherton  purchasers 
against  the  vexatious  proceedings  of  Providence  colony.' 
How  that  letter  was  obtained  will  appear  in  the  succeed- 
ing chapter.  But  steps  had  already  been  taken  by  Clarke 
which  prevented  the  injury  that  the  State  would  other- 
wise have  sustained  from  these  causes.  The  Assembly 
met  at  Portsmouth  soon  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  to  14-19. 
expedite  measures  for  the  support  of  their  agent. 

The    Greneral   Court   of    Massachusetts    sent   special 
agents  to  Rhode  Island,  to  infoiTQ  the  government  of  their 
views  of  her  acts  against  the  peace  of  that  colony  in  regard 
to  Southertown,  and  to  propose  a  reference  of  the  matters 
in  dispute,  until  which  time  further  molestation  should 
cease.'^     Soon  afterwards  warrants  were  issued  to  all  the 
towns  by  the  President,  requiring  the  freemen  to  accompany    ISTov, 
their  commissioners,  with  their  arms,  to  solemnize  the  re- 
ception of  the  charter,  as  advised  by  the  colony's  agent. 
The  President  also  wrote  to  Massachusetts,  enclosing  a  let-      ^g. 
ter  from  the  king  in  behalf  of  Rhode  Island,  and  received 
a  reply  that  the  council  should  be  called  at  once  to  delib-      ^l, 
erate  on  the  subject.     They  met  at  Boston,  and  proposed 
by  letter  to  President  Arnold  that  all  subjects  in  dispute      „ 
between  the  two  colonies  be  referred  to  arbitrators,  to  meet 
at  Plymouth  at  such  time  as  Rhode  Island  might  select, 
and  naming  Governor  Prince  and  Josias  Winslow  as  refer- 
ees on  the  part  of  Massachusetts. 

Once  more,  and  for  the  last  time  under  the  parliamen- 
tary patent,  the  general  Court  of  Commissioners  convened 
at  Newport  on  the  appointed  day,  to  receive  at  the  hands 

'  Hazard  ii.  498.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  466. 
=  M.  C.  R.,  iv.  Part  2d,  p.  95. 


284  HISTOKY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

of  Captain  George  Baxter,  lately  arrived  from  England, 
the  rich  result  of  the  labors  of  John  Clarke — the  Royal 
Charter  of  Charles  II. 

"At  a  very  great  meeting  and  assemhly  of  the  freemen 
of  the  colony  of  Providence  Plantations,  at  Newport,  in 
Ehode  Island,  in  New  England,  November  the  24th,  1G63. 
The  abovesayed  Assembly  being  legally  called  and  orderly 
mett  for  the  sollome  recejitioh ,  of  his  Majestyes  gratious 
letters  pattent  unto  them  sent,  and  having  in  order  thereto 
chosen  the  President,  Benedict  Arnold,  Moderator  of  the 
Assembly,"  it  was,  "  Voted  :  That  the  box  in  which  the 
King's  gratious  letters  were  enclosed  be  opened,  and  the 
letters  with  the  broad  scale  thereto  affixed  .be  taken  forth 
and  read  by  Captayne  George  Baxter  in  the  audience  and 
view  of  all  the  people  ;  which  was  accordingly  done,  and 
the  sayd  letters  with  his  Majesty's  Royall  Stampe,  and  the 
broad  seal,  with  much  becoming  gravity  held  up  on  hygh, 
and  presented  to  the  perfect  view  of  the  people,  and  then 
returned  into  the  box  and  locked  up  by  the  Governor,  in 
order  to  the  safe  keeping  of  it." 

The  humble  thanks  of  the  colony  were  voted  to  His 
Majesty  and  to  the  earl  of  Clarendon,  and  also  a  gratuity 
of  one  hundred  pounds  to  John  Clarke  and  one  of  twenty- 
25  five  pounds  to  Captain  Baxter.  The  next  da,y  the  com 
missioners  again  assembled,  and  having  passed  such  acts 
as  were  necessary  to  prevent  the  failure  of  justice,  "dis- 
solved and  resigned  up  "  to  the  government  appointed  by 
the  charter. 
26.  On  the  following  day  the  Governor  and  council  named 

in  the  charter,  held  a  meeting  to  receive  again  the  sub- 
mission of  the  sachems  to  the  crown  of  England,  and  to 
order  the  government  of  the  colony,  by  receiving  anew  the 
engagements  of  all  the  existing"  officers  to  hold  their  jdaces 
until  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  first  Tuesday  of  the  ensuing  March. 

The  government  of  the  colony  under  the  parliamentary 


EXPIRATION    OF    THE    PARLIAMENTARY    CHARTER.  285 

patent  was  ended.  "The  incorporation  of  Providence  chap. 
Plantations,"  as  a  legal  title,  had  ceased  to  exist.  Hence-  x^^^ 
forth  the  colony  was  to  assume  another  name,  and  tjo  be  gov-  16  6  3. 
erned  under  a  royal  charter,  not  less  free  than  that  which 
it  supplanted,  and  better  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
State.  The  patent  of  1644  had  accomplished  the  chief 
end  for  which  it  was  sought.  It  had  gathered  the  scat- 
tered settlements  of  fugitives  from  persecution  into  one 
corj)orate  body,  and  compelled  their  recognition  as  a  body 
politic  by  their  ambitious  and  vindictive  neighbors.  But 
it  was  too  feeble  to  answer  the  full  purposes  of  a  charter. 
The  veiy  freedom  of  its  provisions,  which  in  later  days 
would  give  it  strength,  was  in  those  primitive  times  a 
source  of  weakness.  It  was  more  a  patent  for  the  towns 
than  for  the  people,  legalizing,  in  effect,  so  many  independ- 
ent corporations,  rather  than  constructing  one  sovereign 
power  resting  upon  the  popular  will.  It  produced  a  con- 
federacy, and  not  a  union.  Its  defects  are  seen  in  the  fa- 
cility with  which  Coddington,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the 
people  at  Aquedneck,  severed  that  island  from  the  rest  of 
the  colony,  and  usurped  a  power  almost  dictatorial.  Under 
its  operation,  in  eveiy  town  and  hamlet  were  spread  the 
seeds  of  discontent  and  disunion,  and  nothing  but  the  pres- 
sure from  without,  and  the  supreme  law  of  self-preserva- 
tion, kept  the  discordant  settlements  from  utter  destruction, 
and  from  being  absorbed  by  the  adjoining  governments. 
Its  reception  had  been  hailed  with  extravagant  joy  by  a 
despised  and  persecuted  people.  Its  expiration  was  at- 
tended with  no  regret,  for  twenty  years  had  wrought  that 
change  in  the  feeble  colony  which  the  same  period  works 
from  infancy  to  manhood.  As  a  basis  of  civil  polity  it  had 
"  outlived  its  usefulness,''  and  was  suffered  to  depart  with- 
out a  murmur. 

Thus  closed  the  second  epoch  of  Rhode  Island  history. 
The  first  presents  a  view  of  scattered  cabins  reared  in  the 
primeval  wilderness,  till  they  become  a  little  village  on  the 


286  HISTORY  OF   THE   STATE   OF  EHODE  ISLAND. 

river  bank.  One  after  another  these  feeble  hamlets  strug- 
gle into  life,  remote  from  each  other,  amid  virgin  forests 
16  6  8.  and  on  the  ocean  shore.  The  hardy  settlers,  twice  exiled 
for  opinion's  sake,  have  become  the  pioneers  of  princij^les 
immortal  as  truth  itself.  What,  though  wild  beasts  dis- 
turb their  rest  at  night,  and  the  Indian  warwhpop  rings 
around  their  dwellings  !  They  have  won  the  savage  by 
acts  of  kindness  and  of  justice,  and  have  less  to  fear  from 
his  untamed  but  generous  spirit  than  from  the  brethren 
they  have  left.  Here,  each  village  by  itself^  they  must 
frame  their  own  laws,  and  submit  to  their  own  enact- 
ments, till,  by  force  of  habit  and  of  necessity,  each  vil- 
lager becomes,  unconsciously,  a  statesman.  The  school 
of  j)ractice  precedes  the  school  of  theory,  and  thus  four  in- 
dependent governments  are  formed,  self-constituted,  in  the 
wilderness.  But  one  common  sentiment  pervades  the 
whole.  The  spirit  of  liberty  animates  every  heart.  Soul 
liberty  and  civil  freedom  is  their  aim,  and  with  one  accor-d 
each  separate  village  declares  that  "  all  men  may  walk  as 
their  consciences  persuade  them,  every  one  in  the  name  of 
his  Grod."  Thus  in  obscurity  these  outcast  men  indeed 
proclaimed  "freedom  to  the  world,"  and  from  their  seclud- 
ed settlements  sent  forth  a  law  which  was  to  redeem  the 
human  soul  from  spiritual  thraldom,  and  in  time  to  free 
a  nation,  perhaps  all  nations  at  some  future  day,  from  civil 
tyranny,  by  teaching  the  doctrine  of  self-government. 

But  the  villages  have  grown  to  be  towns,  "  heresy  and 
treason  "  are  rampant  in  the  plantations,  and  Puritan  zeal 
for  Church  and  State  seeks  to  extirpate  the  source  of  so 
dangerous  an  example.  Roused  to  a  sense  of  impending 
danger,  and  conscious  of  the  vast  significance  of  their 
common  principles,  the  towns  obtain  a  patent  which  re- 
cognizes their  corporate  existence,  yet  leaves  them  freely 
to  enjoy  their  cherished  sentiments.  With  this  patent  of 
incorporation  the  second  epoch  of  their  history  begins. 
Through  the  last  two  chapters  we  have  traced  this  seco  id 


PROCEEDINGS   IN    THE    CASE    OF    JOHN    WARNER.  287 

period  of  doubt  and  change,  of  conflict  and  disunion,  of  chap 
threatened  anarchy  within,  and  of  aggression  and  insult  _^^ 
from  without.     We  have  seen  how,  amid  all  the  troubles  16  6  3. 
that  environed  them,  the  townsmen  kept  steadily  in  view 
the  fundamental  principles  of  their  organization,  and  tri- 
umphantly sustained  their  peculiar  notions  against   the 
arguments  and  the  menaces  of  the  rest  of  New  England  ; 
and  how  the  material  prosperity  of  the  people   kept  pace 
with  their  fidelity  to  the  truth,  until  the  arrival  of  a  new, 
"  more  absolute,  ample,  and  free  charter  of  civil  incorpo- 
ration," ushered  in  the  third  epoch  of  our  history— the 
period  of  colonial  maturity. 


APPENDIX    B. 

PROCEEDINGS    IN    THE    CASE    OF    JOHN    WARNER. 

FROM   THE    WARWICK    RECORDS. 

'=  The  twentie-fourth  of  Aprill,  1652.  ^^^ 

"At  a  town  meeting  or  law  making  assembly  ordered  that 
"  John  Warner  for  his  misdemeanures  under  annexed  is  degraded 
by  the  unanimos  consent  of  the  town  from   bearmg  any  office  in  the 
town,  and  that  he  is  hereby  disenabled  for  ever  after  bearing  any  of- 
fice in  the  Town  untill  he  gives  the  town  satisfaction. 

'•  It  is  further  ordered  that  the  abovesayed  John  Warner  is  put  out 
from  having  any  vote  in  the  town  concerning  its  affairs. 
•'  The  charges  against  John  Warner  are  these,  first 
"Item— for  calling  the  officers  of  the  town  rogues  and  theives  with 
respect  to  their  office. 

■(  Item — for  calling  the  whole  town  rogues  and  thieves. 
"  Item — for  threatning  the  lives  of  men. 
"  Item— for  threatning  to  kill  all  the  mares  in  town. 
•'  Item— for  his  contempt  in  not  appearing  before  the  town  now 
met.  being  lawfully  (assembled  ?)  by  a  summons  from  the  officer  with 
two  magistrates  hands  to  it. 

"  Item— for  threatning  an  officer  of  the  colony  in  open  Court  that 


288  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 


if  he  had  him  elsewhere  he  would  beate  out  his  braynes,  as  also  call 
ing  him  rogue. 

"  Item — for  his  employing  an  agent  to  write  to  the  Massachusetts, 
thereby  going  about  to  inthrall  the  liberties  of  the  t  own,  contrary  to 
the  privileges  of  the  town,  and  to  the  great  indignity  of  the  Honorable 
State  of  England  who  granted  the  sayd  privaledges  to  us. 

"  It  is  ordered  that  another  be  immediately  chose  for  Assistant  to 
supply  John  AVarner's  place  while  (until?)  the  next  choice." 

Mr.  John  Smith  was  chosen  Assistant  in  place  of  Warner.  At 
the  annual  town  meeting  on  7th  June  it  was 

'•  Ordered,  that  the  answer  read  by  Mr.  S.  Gorton  in  the  town 
meeting,  to  the  motions  of  the  Town  of  Providence  with  respect  to 
John  Warner,  be  forthwith  drawn  forth  and  signed  by  the  Clarke  and 
sent  to  the  Town  of  Providence  forthwith. 

"Ordered,  that  the  declaration  that  hath  been  drawn  up  in  the 
town  concerning  John  Warner  and  the  Dutchmen,  which  hath  been 
sent  to  the  Bay,  as  also  to  Providence,  that  a  cop}'  of  it  be  drawn  forth 
and  signed  by  the  Clarke  and  sent  to  Mr.  Roger  Williams,  and  or- 
dered tliat  Mr.  Samuel  Gorton  is  to  write  a  letter  to  Mr.  Roger  Wil- 
liams in  the  Town's  behalf,  to  give  him  information  concerning  the 
town  and  Colonies  proceedings  with  John  Warner  and  his  wife." 

The  only  notice  taken  of  the  case  by  the  General  Assembly  was 
on  the  19th  May,  when  the  matter  was  left  to  the  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Trials  in  these  words,  "It  is  agreed  that  the  case  of  Priscilla 
Warne.r,  now  depending  in  the  General  Court  of  Trialls,  shall  there  be 
issued." 

At  a  town  meeting  on  the  22d  June  it  was  ordered, 

'•  That  the  house  and  land  of  John  Warner  situate  and  being  in 
the  sayd  town  be  attached  forthwith  upon  suspicion  of  unsufFerable 
treacherie  against  the  town,  to  the  forfeiture  of  the  sayd  house  and 
land,  and  that  notice  may  be  given  him  of  the  attachment  thereof  that 
BO  hee  by  himself  or  aturney  may  answer  at  the  next  court  of  Trials 
to  be  held  in  Warwick  the  3d  Tuesday  in  August  next  ensuing  the 
date  hereof.  It  is  also  ordered  that  all  persons  are  hereby  prohibited 
from  laying  any  claim  or  title  unto  it,  or  an}'  part  thereof  by  bargain 
and  sale  or  otherwise  untill  he  hath  answered  the  law  and  be  cleered 
by  order  of  the  Court  held  as  afoi'esayd,  but  remains  in  the  hand  and 
custody  of  the  town  in  the  mean  time. 

"  Ordered,  that  the  Sergeant  shall  have  a  copie  of  this  order  and 
set  it  up  upon  the  door  of  the  house. 

"  Ordered,  that  if  hereafter  John  Warner  or  any  for  him  shall  sell 
that  house  and  land  abovesayd,  an}-  part  or  parcel  of  it,  to  any  but 
such  as  shall  subscribe  to  our  order  it  shall  as  before  be  wholly  foifeit 
to  the  town." 


PROrFEDINGS    IN    THE    CASE    OF   JOHN    WARNER.  289 

On  the  5th  of  July  the  property  was  released,  under  protest,  as   chap. 
follows:—  VIII.' 

"  Ordered  by  the  town  of  Warwick  that  the  house  and  land  of 
John  Warner,  situated  in  the  sayd  Town  of  Warwick,  being  of  late 
atached  upon  suspicion  of  the  breach  of  the  grand  law  of  the  Town, 
be  resigned  up  to  the  said  John  Warner  again. 

"  We  whose  names  are  here  underwritten  being  unsatisfied  with 
the  above  voate  upon  the  resigning  of  the  abovesayed  house  of  John 
Warner  which  was  atached  upon  suspicion  of  the  breach  of  the  grand 
law  of  the  Town,  do  hereby  enter  our  protest  against  the  act,  as  wit- 
ness our  hands. 

Rnndal  Houlden,  John  Wickes, 

John  Greene,  Jun.,  Samuel  Gorton, 

Robert  Potter." 

Thirty-one  years  later,  June  26th,  1683,  he  was  divorced  from  his 
wife  upon  her  petition,  on  the  ground  of  infidelity,  and  of  pei-sonal 
violence  towards  her,  and  at  the  same  session  was  expelled  from  the 
General  Assembly  as  he  had  before  been  from  town  offices,  in  terms 
as  follows  :— 

"  Voted  :  Whereas,  Mr.  John  Warner  was  by  the  town  of  Warwick 
chosen  to  be  a  Deputy  in  this  Assembly,  and  being  from  time  to  time 
called,  and  not  in  Courte  appearing,  and  there  haveing  been  presented 
to  this  Assembly  such  complaints  against  him,  that  the  Assembly  doe 
judge,  and  are  well  satisfied,  he  is  an  unfitt  person  to  serve  as  a  Dep- 
uty ;  and  therefore  see  cause  to  expel  him  from  acting  in  this  present 
Assembly  as  a  Deputy." 


TOL.  I — 19 


29t»  BIBTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAM) 


CHAPTER    IX. 

1663— lfi75. 

FROM   THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE   ROYAL   CHARTER,   NOVEMBER, 
1663,     TO   THE    COMMENCEMENT   OF    KING    PHILIP'S     WAR, 
JUNE,  1675. 

^?x^'  T^^^  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  annulling  the  acts  of 

' — ■ —  the  Long  Parliament,  compelled  Rhode  Island  to  seek  a 
renewal  of  her  privileges  by  another  charter.  It  was  at  an 
auspicious  moment,  when  Charles  II.  was  yet  but  recently 
seated  upon  his  throne,  that  the  talent  and  energy  of  Dr. 
Clarke  obtained  this  instrument.  It  confirmed  every 
thing  that  the  previous  patent  had  given,  and  vested  even 
greater  powers  in  the  people.  Under  it  the  State  was  an 
absolute  sovereignty  with  powers  to  make  its  own  laws, 
religious  freedom  was  guaranteed,  and  no  oath  of  alle- 
giance was  required.  Rhode  Island  became  in  fact,  and 
almost  in  name,  an  independent  State  from  that  day. 

There  are  three  points  in  this  charter  deserving  of 
special  attention,  which  distinguish  it  from  all  other  royal 
patents  that  have  ever  been  granted.  To  mention  these 
in  the  order  in  which  they  occur,  the  first  is  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  Indian  titles  .  to  the  soil.  Among  the 
reasons  assigned  for  granting  the  charter  is  this,  that  the 
petitioners  "  are  seized  and  possessed  by  purchase  and 
consent  of  the  said  natives  to  their  full  content,  of  such 
lands,  islands/'  &c.,  and  farther  on,  in  the   enumeration 


THE    CHARTER    ACKNOWLEDGES   INDIAN    TITLES.  291 

of  powers  granted,  the  inhabitants  are  permitted  "  to  di- 
rect, rule,  order  and  dispose  of  all  other  matters  and 
things,  and  particularly  that  which  relates  to  the  making 
of  purchases  of  the  native  Indians."  These  paragraphs 
would  appear  unimportant,  if  they  did  not  concede  a  prin- 
ciple for  which  the  founders  of  Rhode  Island  had  con- 
tended from  the  beginning,  and  which  was  not  incorpo- 
rated in  any  other  charter.  Possession  by  right  of  dis- 
covery was  a  European  doctrine  coeval  with  the  days  of 
Columbus  and  de  Gama.  First  exercised  by  the  Su- 
preme Pontiff,  who  claimed  the  exclusive  right,  as  God's 
Vicegerent,  to  the  temporal  control  of  all  newly-discov- 
ered countries,  it  was  soon  adopted  by  the  maritime  pow- 
ers as  a  part  of  the  royal  prerogative.  Overlooking  that 
principle  of  justice  which  establishes  propriety  in  the 
original  possessor,  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  assert  their  claim  over  both  Americas.  The  rights 
of  the  aborigines,  heathens  and  barbarians  as  they  were, 
presented  no  obstacles  to  these  enlightened  and  Christian 
legislators.  Their  heathenism  was  handed  over  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  church,  their  barbarism  to  the  civ- 
ilizing agency  of  gunpowder  and  steel.  Although  the 
method  of  administration  was  more  summary  in  the  Span- 
ish and  Portuguese  j)OSsessions,  the  principle,  in  its  broad- 
est extent,  was  recognized  by  the  British  crown,  though 
rarely  acted  upon  by  the  English  colonists.  Against  the 
abstract  right,  as  well  as  the  positive  abuse  of  these  pre- 
tensions, the  settlement  of  Rhode  Island  was  the  first 
solemn  protest.  Mercy  and  justice  combined  to  raise  the 
voice  of  indignant  rebuke  against  the  wholesale  assump- 
tion of  territorial  rights,  urged  by  the  Council  of  Ply- 
mouth under  their  patent  from  King  James.  For  the 
bold  denunciation  of  those  words  of  the  patent  in  which 
the  King,  as  the  "  Sovereign  Lord "  of  this  continent, 
grants  by  his  "  special  grace,  mere  motion  and  certain 
knowledge,"  a  large  portion  of  America,  reaching  from 


292  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  the  AtLantic  to  the  Pacific,  to  the  Council  of  Plymouth, 
^^,...,1^  Koger  Williams  was  twice  subjected  to  the  censure  of  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts.  This  principle  was  the 
only  one,  save  that  of  "  soul  liberty,"  which  Koger  Wil- 
liams initiated  in  Massachusetts,  of  the  many  factious 
proceedings  that  later  writers,  following  Hubbard,  have 
laid  to  his  charge.  Upon  this  point,  the  exclusive  right 
of  the  aborigines  to  their  native  soil,  Mr.  Williams  was 
decided,  and  his  views  were  maintained  by  those  jyho  fol- 
lowed him  to  Rhode  Island.  They  were  set  forth  by  Dr. 
Clarke  in  his  addresses  to  the  King,  and  thus  became  em- 
bodied in  the  Royal  charter.  The  operation  of  the  thing 
was  the  leverse  in  this  State  from  what  it  was  elsewhere. 
The  other  colonies  claimed  the  soil  by  virtue  of  grants 
from  the  King,  and  confirmed  their  titles  by  purchase 
from  the  Indians,  or  by  conquest.  Here  the  paramount 
title  was  held  to  be  in  the  aborigines,  and  the  right,  first 
obtained  from  them  by  purchase,  was  only  confirmed  by 
patent  from  the  crown. 
The  second  remarkable  point  in  this  charter  is  the  am- 
ple protection  which  it  .extends  to  the  rights  of  conscience. 
So  full  and  absolute  is  this  guarantee,  and  so  different 
from  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  age,  that  the  principle  it 
embodies  has  come  to  be  considered,  not  only  as  the  pecu- 
liar honor  of  Rhode  Island,  but  as  being  the  .sole  distiii" 
guishing  feature  of  her  history.  It  declares  "  that  noe 
person  within  the  sayd  colonye,  at  any  tyme  hereafter, 
shall  bee  any  wise  molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or 
called  in  question,  for  any  difi'ercnce  in  opinione  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  which  doe  not  actually  disturb  the  civill 
peace  of  our  sayd  colonye  ;  but  that  all  and  everye  per- 
son and  persons  may,  from  tyme  to  tyme,  and  at  all  tymes 
hereafter,  freelye  and  fullye  have  and  enjoye  his  and  theire 
owne  judgments  and  consciences,  in  matters  of  religious 
concernments,  tliroughout  the  tract  of  lande  hereafter 
mentioned ;    they   behaving    themselves    peaceablie   and 


ALLOWS  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE  AND  IS  REPUBLICAN.  293 

quietlie,  and  not  using  this  libertie  to  lycentiousnesse  and  chap. 
profanenesse,  nor  to  the  civil  injurye  or  outward  disturb-  ^^J^.^ 
ance  of  others."  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  laws 
of  England  rigidly  required  uniformity  in  religious  belief. 
Church  and  State  were  essential  portions  of  each  other. 
This  grant  therefore  repealed  the  laws  of  England,  so  far 
as  Rhode  Island  was  concerned,  by  excej)ting  her  from 
their  operation,  and  left  the  people  of  this  colony  precisely 
where  the  parliamentary  patent,  by  its  significant  silence 
on  this  subject,  had  left  them.  It  was  a  signal  triumph 
for  what  is  now  recognized  as  the  fundamental  principle 
in  ethics,  in  religion,  and  in  politics.' 

The  remaining  point  to  be  noticed  as  distinguishing 
this  charter  from  all  others  that  have  emanated  from  the 
throne  of  a  monarch,  is  its  purely  republican  character. 
When  the  colony  was  organized  under  the  previous  pa- 
tent, the  Assembly  declared  "  that  the  form  of  government 
established  in  Providence  Plantations  is  Democratical, 
that  is  to  say,  a  government  held  by  the  free  and  volun- 
tary consent  of  all,  or  the  greater  part  of  the  free  inhabit- 
ants." This  was  a  novel  doctrine,  at  least  in  the  history 
of  the  modern  world,  and  although  it  was  sanctioned  by 
the  charter  of  a  republican  parliament,  it  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  pass  the  seals  of  a  Royal  Council.  Yet  it  did 
so  pass,  and  in  almost  the  same  terms  in  which  it  had  be- 
fore been  secured.  After  conferring  power  to  elect  their 
own  officers  and  to  make  their  own  laws,  "  as  to  them 
shall  seem  meet  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  said  Com- 
I^any,"  it  requires  only  that  such  laws  "  bee  not  contrarie 
and  repugnant  unto,  but  as  near  as  may  bee,  agreeable  to 

*  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  Charles  II.,  in  his  famous  letter  to  the  Com- 
mons, known  as  the  "  Declaration,"  from  Breda,  April  4-14,  1660,  promises 
religious  freedom  to  his  subjects,  in  the  event  of  his  restoration,  in  precisely 
the  language  used  in  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  "  that  no  man  shall  be  dis- 
quieted or  called  in  question  for  differences  of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion 
which  do  not  disturb  the  peace  of  the  kingdom."  Echard's  Hist,  of  England,  ii. 
897  ;  Rapin  book,  22d  vol.  xi.  p.  180,  where  the  declaration  is  cited  in  fvdl. 


294  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

the  laws  of  this  our  Realme  of  England,"  and  adds  the 
game  qualifying  and  practically  annulling  words,  "  ct)nsid- 
ering  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  place  and  people 
there."  The  extent  of  the  powers  conferred  by  this 
charter  is  indeed  surprising.  The  military  arm,  always 
relied  upon  as  the  distinctive  barrier  of  the  throne,  is  for- 
mally and  fully  surrendered  to  the  people,  in  this  instru- 
ment, even  to  the  extreme  poiiit  of  declaring  martial  law 
— a  grant  which,  in  repeated  ca«es,  the  govcriunent  of 
Rhode  Island  successfully  defended,  in  later  yejirs,  against 
the  threats  and  the  arguments  of  the  royal  governors  of 
New  England. 

Thus  it  was  that  Rhode  Island  continiied,  as  she  had 
begun,  an  independent  State,  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  Mother  country,  and  was  unaffected,  save  at  one 
brief  intei-val,  by  the  changes  that  swept  over  the  neigh- 
boring colonies.  With  this  charter,  serving  as  the  basis 
of  government  rather  than  prescribing  its  form,  the  State 
led  the  way  in  the  final  struggle  for  national  independ- 
ence. 

Under  it  Rhode  Island,  a,s  being  no  less  truly  than 
professedly  republican,  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  was  received  into  the  American  Union. 
So  far  as  tliis  charter  was  concerned,  a  single  provision, 
fixing  the  apportionment  of  representatives  for  the  several 
towns,  which  time  had  rendered  unjust  in  its  operation, 
and  which,  it  was  contended,  could  not  be  remedied  other- 
wise than  by  an  alteration  of  the  organic  law,  led  to  its 
abrogation  in  1843,  at  which  time  this  venerable  instru- 
ment was  the  oldest  constitutional  charter  in  the  world. 
For  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  it  had  been  regarded  as 
the  shield  of  popular  freedom  against  Royal  prerogative  or 
Federal  encroachment.  It  was  the  last  remaining  beacon 
planted  by  the  Republicans  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  so  firmly  that  the  war  of  the  Revolution  had  not 


BOUNDARY    DISPUTE    WITH    CONNECTICUT.  295 

changed  its  jaosition,  for  they  both  rested  upon  the  same  cHAt- 
foundation — the  inherent  right  of  self-government.  — ^ 

The  Government  was  vested  in  a  Governor,  Deputy 
Governor,  and  ten  Assistants,  named  in  the  charter,  with 
a  House  of  Deputies,  six  from  Newport,  four  each  from 
Providence,  Portsmouth  and  Warwick,  and  two  from 
every  other  town.  The  former  were  to  be  chosen  annual- 
ly at  Newport  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  May,  the  latter 
by  their  respective  towns.  The  whole  legislative  body  was 
called  the  General  Assembly,  and  was  to  meet  twice  a 
year,  in  May  and  October,  but  they  could  alter  the  time 
and  place  of  meeting  at  will.  Benedict  Arnold  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  Governor,  and  William  Brenton,  Deputy 
Governor. ' 

In  view  no  doubt  ©f  the  acts  of  non-intercourse  exist- 
ing against  Rhode  Island  in  the  neighboring  colonies,  the 
charter  specially  req^uired  that  the  people  of  this  colony 
should  be  permitted  to  pass  unmolested  through  the  adja- 
cent provinces,  and  an  appeal  to  the  King  was  guaranteed 
in  case  of  further  disputes.  In  all  cases  the  charter  was 
to  be  construed  most  favorably  for  the  benefit  of  the 
grantees.  The  boundary  lines  were  minutely  defined. 
They  are  those  which,  after  more  than  a  century  of  con- 
test with  the  adjoining  colonies,  were  finally  established 
in  accordance  with  the  charter,  and  exist  at  this  day. 

The  western  boundary  was  the  source  of  immediate  and 
violent  dispute,  prolonging  instead  of  quieting  the  difficul- 
ties already  commenced.  The  charter  of  Connecticut 
bore  date  fifteen  months  anterior  to  that  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  bounded  that  colony  on  Narraganset  Bay.  The  peo- 
ple of  Rhode  Island,  upon  the  first  notice  of  this  legalized 
robbery  of  so  large  a  portion  of  their  territory,  charged 
those   of    Connecticut  with    underhand   dealing   in   the 

'  The  Assistants  were  William  Balstou,  John  Porter,  Roger  '\rilliaras, 
Thomas  Olney,  John  Smith,  John  Greene,  John  Coggeshall,  James  Barker, 
WUliam  Ffeild,  and  Joseph  Clarke. 


296  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHOl)E   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  means  employed  to  obtain  that  result,  and  maintained 
^_;_:^  that  upon  a  proper  representation  of  the  facts  the  obnox- 
ious portions  would  be  revoked — and  so  indeed  it  proved. 
The  Rhode  Island  charter,  referring  in  terms  to  that  of 
Connecticut,  and  expressly  limiting  the  territory  therein 
conveyed  in  accordance  with  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island, 
designated  the  Pawcatuck  river  as  her  western  boundary, 
"  any  graunt,  or  clause  in  a  late  graunt,  to  the  Governor 
and  Company  of  Connecticut  Colony,  in  America^^  to  the 
contrary  thereof  in  any  wise  notwithstanding;  the  afore- 
sayd  Pawcatuck  river  haveing  byn  yeilded,  after  much  de- 
bate, for  the  fixed  and  certain  boundes  between  these  our 
sayd  Colonies,  by  the  agents  thereof;  who  have  alsoe 
agreed,  that  the  sayd  Pawcatuck  river  shall  bee  alsoe  call- 
ed alias  Narraganset  river;  and,  to  prevent  other  disputes, 
that  otherwise  might  arise  thereby,  forever  hereafter  shall 
be  construed,  deemed  and  taken  to  bee  the  Narraganset 
river  in  our  late  graunt  to  Connecticut  Colony  mentioned 
as  the  easterly  bounds  of  that  Collony."  Nothing  could 
be  more  explicit  than  this  recital,  yet  it  did  not  suffice  to 
settle. the  difficulty.  The  agreement  made  by  the  two 
agents.  Gov.  Winthrop  and  Dr.  Clarke  on  the  part  of  their 
respective  colonies,  was  disowned  by  Connecticut,  on  the 
ground  that  their  agent  had  no  longer  any  authority  to  act 
tor  the  colony,  his  commission  having  expired,  as  they 
said,  upon  the  completion  of  his  labors  in  obtaining  the 
charter.*  Even  if  this  were  so,  we  do  not  see  how  that  ob- 
jection could  set  aside  a  Royal  grant.  It  could  only  aftect 
the  force  of  a  statement  in  the  charter  which  is  simply 
explanatory  and  altogether  secondary  to  the  main  question 
at  issue.  Of  the  fact  of  the  agreement  there  is  no  denial. 
Of  its  binding  effect  upon  the  two  colonies  there  might  be 
a  question  if  the  plenary  powers  of  the  Connecticut  agent 
had  ceased,  as  was  asserted,  when  his  charter  passed  the 

'  See  Report  of  the  Royal  Commissioners,  October,  1683,  in  1  M.  H.  C,  v. 
238. 


THE    AGREEMENT    BETWEEN    CLARKE    AND   WINTHROP.  297 

seals.  But  the  validity  of  the  grant  itself  is  untouched  chap 
by  the  error  or  the  accuracy  of  one  of  the  reasons  therein  ._^,J^ 
assigned  for  making  it.  16  6  3. 

This  agreement  was  the  result  of  arbitration.  The 
points  of  difference  being  submitted  to  five  referees  were 
decided  by  them  in  four  articles.  The  first  fixed  Pawca- 
tuck  river  as  the  boundary  and  named  it  Narraganset.  The 
second  gave  the  Quinnebaug  tract  to  Connecticut.  The 
third  allowed  the  inhabitants  around  Smith's  tradino;  house, 
being  the  Atherton  company,  to  choose  to  which  of  the 
two  colonies  they  would  submit  ;  and  the  fourth  declared 
that  the  rights  of  property  should  be  maintained  through 
the  colonies.  To  these  four  proposals  the  two  agents  as- 
sented, as  a  final  issue  of  their  differences.  The  second  April 
and  fourth  are  unimportant,  the  other  two  include  the 
whole  real  matter  in  dispute.'  We  cannot  understand 
how  any  such  agreement  could  of  itself  bind  either  colony. 
If  VVinthrop  exceeded  his  powers,  as  charged  by  Connecti- 
cut, in  giving  up  territory,  Clarke  equally  exceeded  his  in 
yielding  jurisdiction  over  a  purchase  made  in  violation  of 
the  laws  of  Rhode  Island  ;  for  the  desire  of  the  Atherton 
men  to  submit  to  Connecticut  was  weU  known,  and  the 
giving  them  this  choice  w^as  nothing  less  than  abandoning 
all  control  over  their  lands.  It  was  in  fact  admitting  a 
foreign  colony  into  the  heart  of  the  State  ;  an  evil  from 
which  Rhode  Island  had  already  suffered  too  much  in  the 
case  of  Pawtuxet.  But  Rhode  Island  did  not  set  up  the 
plea  that  her  agent  had  exceeded  his  powers.  She  stood 
on  the  terms  of  her  charter  in  the  question  of  boundary, 
and  in  that  of  jurisdiction  she  adopted  conciliatory  meas- 
ures towards  the  people  of  Narraganset. 

We  have  already  seen  abundant  reasons  why  the  New 
England  league  should  sympathize  with  Connecticut  in 

'  The  agreement  is  printed  in  1  M.  H.  C,  v.  248,  where  it  is  dated  17th 
April,  and  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  518,  with  the  correct  date,  7th  April,  follow- 
ing the  copy  preserved  in  the  British  State  Paper  Office.  New  England  pa- 
pers, vol.  3,  p.  90. 


298  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

ciiAi'.   this  new  occasion  of  dispute.     The  fact  that  their  writ- 

IX  • 

,.,_^_;_  ers  have,  steadily  endeavored  to  defend  tha  claim  of  Con- 

10  03.  necticiit  against  the  rights  of  Rhode  Island,  confirmed  by 
the  King,  and  to  uphold  the  conduct  of  Winthrop  at  the 
expense  of  Dr.  Clarke,  while  Rhode  Island  has  to  this  day 
silently  submitted  to  the  imputations  cast  upon  her  agent, 
conscious  of  his  rectitude,  yet  careless  to  preserve  his  name 
unsullied,  has  wrouglit  great  injustice  to  one  whose  charac- 
ter and  whose  taleiits  appear  more  exalted  the  more-closely 
they  are  examined.  That  foreign  historians,  seeking  to 
give  an  impartial  account  of  this  transaction,  should  have 
been  misled  by  the  only  authorities  within  their  reach,  and 
thus  unwittingly  have  attached  an  unmerited  stigma  to 
the  name  of  John  Clarke,  is  natural  and  perhaps  inevitable.' 
But  that  New  England  authors  should  attempt  to  honor 
Winthrop  by  disgracing  Clarke  does  wrong  to  both,  and  is 
alike  ungenerous  and  unjust.  Between  these  two  great 
men  there  appears  to  have  existed  a  cordial  friendship, 
which  was  not  broken  even  by  the  delicate  position  into 
which  they  were  thrown  by  the  singular  conduct  of  Con- 
necticut colony.  It  is  true  that  Winthrop  in  his  letters 
complained  that  Clarke  had  not  obtained  his  charter  sooner, 
and  that  he  had  done  him  wrong  in  opposing  the  Conn*^c- 
ticut  charter  after  its  confirmation,  thereby  hindering  his  re- 
turn ;  and  in  the  same  letter  he  sends  a  kind  message  to 
his  Rhode  Island  friends,  declaring  that  he  had  no  intent 
to  injure  them,  but  only  "  to  render  a  service  to  their  old 
charter,"  as  well  as  to  the  people  of  Narraganset.'-  The 
geography  of  New  England  was  but  little  understood,  in 
the  minutias  of  courses  and  distances,  even  by  its  inhabi- 
tants, at  that  time,  and  the  reply  to  that  letter,  written  by 
the  people  of  Narraganset,  as  the  Atherton  settlers  were 

'  For  a  refutation  of  the  charges  brought  by  Grahame  and  endorsed  by 
Quincy  against  Chirke,  and  for  an  examination  into  the  reliability  of  Chal- 
mers, see  Appendix  C. 

-  This  letter  is  Xo.  47  of  the  22d  vol.  of  the  Trumbull  MSS.  in  the  ar« 
chives  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.     See  AppendLx  D.,  No.  II. 


April. 


THE    TRADUCERS    OF    CLARKE    EXPOSED.  29S 

now  called,  shows  a  singular  misconception  on  this  point  chap. 
either  in  their  minds  or  in  that  of  Winthrop.  It  would  ^^-.^ 
seem  as  if  Winthrop  had  first,  in  obedience  to  instructions  ^^^^^ 
from  Connecticut,  bounded  that  colony  on  Narraganset 
bay  ;  that,  upon  being  convinced  by  Clarke  of  the  injustice 
thereby  done  to  Rhode  Island,  he  agreed  to  the  adjustment 
mentioned  in  the  Rhode  Island  charter,  and  that  thus, 
while  trying  to  discharge  his  duty  as  the  agent  of  one  and 
the  friend  of  the  other,  he  deeply  offended  both,  through 
want  of  exact  knowledge  of  the  position  and  limits  of  the 
disputed  territory. '  To  retort  upon  Winthrop  the  charges 
that  his  defenders  have  made  against  Clarke,  would  be  to 
pervert  the  truth  of  history,  as  has  been  steadily  done  by 
those  who,  anxious  to  shield  their  own  infamy,  or  ignorant 
of  the  secret  history  of  this  transaction,  have  sought  to  cast 
upon  Clarke  the  stigma  of  ".underhand  dealing"  that  at- 
taches to  themselves,  or  have  blindly  copied  the  falsehoods 
of  his  enemies.  Where  this  disgrace  properly  belongs,  and 
how,  and  why  it  was  shifted  upon  the  shoulders  of  Clarke, 
will  now  be  shown.  The  Atherton  company  who,  it  will 
be  remembered,  had  bought  lands  in  Narraganset  contrary 
to  the  law  of  Rhode  Island,  and  who  had  constantly  re- 
fused every  overture  made  by  the  Assembly  for  their  legal 
and  proper  settlement  in  the  State,  being  composed  of  res- 
idents of  the  other  colonies,  and  of  whom  Winthrop  him- 
self was  one,  were  earnest  in  their  desire  to  be  placed 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.  They  maintained 
a  constant  correspondence  with  Winthrop  during  his 
mission  at  London  ;  the  burden  of  which  was  that  he 
should  so  establish  the  boundary  of  Connecticut  as  to 
accomplish  their  purpose.  They  also  had  a  special  agent 
of  their  own  in  Ltndon,  one  John  Scot,  whose  incautious 
pen  has  furnished  the  evidence  of  his  own  infamy,  and  of 
that  of  his  employers,  while  it  pays  a  tacit  tribute  to  the 

*  The  reasons  that  lead  to  this    conclusion  would  be   tedious  to  embody  in 
the  text,  and  will  best  appear  by  perusing  the  letters  inserted  in  Appendix  D. 


300  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

3HAP.  purity  of  Winthrop.  It  was  he  who  obtained  the  famous 
,J^^  letter  from  the  King  to  the  United  Colonies,  committing 
16  6  3.  to  them  the  protection  of  the  Atherton  Company  against 
21.  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island/  after  Winthrop  had  embarked 
for  America,  and  only  seventeen  days  before  the  final  pas- 
sage of  the  Rhode  Island  charter  which  effectually  repeals 
the  powers  conferred  in  that  letter.  It  seemed  unaccount- 
able that  so  soon  after  an  agreement  had  been  made  by 
which  the  controversy  was  supposed  to  be  settled^-and  one 
of  the  agents  liad  embarked  for  home,  a  royal  letter  should 
appear,  virtually  repealing  the  substance  of  the  agreement, 
and  that  in  less  than  three  weeks  from  the  date  of  the  let- 
ter a  royal  act  of  the  most  solemn  nature,  an  absolute 
July  charter,  should  issue,  making  special  mention  of  the  said 
^-  agreement,  and  practically  annulling  the  royal  letter. 
There  was  a  confusion  of  dates,  a  confounding  of  powers, 
and  a  manifest  contradiction  of  purposes  about  all  this, 
which  indicated  underhand  dealing  somewhere.  Winthrop 
had  left  England  almost  immediately  after  signing  the 
agreement.  He,  then,  was  clear  of  suspicion.  Clarke  re- 
mained. That  circumstance  aided  the  plan  of  the  con- 
spirators to  divert  suspicion  from  themselves  to  him.  The 
letter  of  June  was  triumphantly  exhibited  as  proof  of  the 
real  intentions  of  the  King,  and  the  fact  that  its  tenor  was 
contradicted  by  the  charter  of  July  was  held  up  as  proof  of 
baseness  on  the  part  of  the  agent  of  Rhode  Island. 

We  can  now  show  which  was  the  true  document,  and 
which  was  obtained  by  fraud.  An  obscure  manuscript 
heretofore  unnoticed,  perhaps  from  the  insignificance  of  its 
author,  fastens  upon  himself  the  charge  of  underhand  deal- 
ing, describes  the  manner  in  which  his  object  was  ell'ected, 
^^  ,.jl  and  names  the  bribe  that  he  gave  to  obtain  it.  John  Scot, 
21).  the  special  agent  of  the  Atherton  company,  wrote  the  let- 
ter, now  ibr  the  first  time  printed,-  which  after  the  la})se 

'  Ante,  chap.  8,  p.  283.     The  letter  is  dated  June  21,  IG63. 
^  See  Apprndix  E  for  this  remarkable  letter,  with  more  copious  commenta 
thereupon  thau  arc  given  in  the  text. 


FIRST    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY    UNDEB    THE    CHARTER.  301 

of  two  hundred  years,  exposes  the  haseness  of  the  enemies  chap. 
of  Clarke,   shows  for  itself  why  they  so  freely  charged  ^_J^ 
him  with  dishonesty,  and  subjects  its  author  and  his  abet-  1663-+. 
tors  to  the  double  shame  of  corruption  to  obtain  their  ends, 
and  of  meanness  in  seeking  to  hide  their  conduct  by  de- 
faming the  character  of  an  honest  man.     To  the  honor  of 
Winthrop  it  should  be  mentioned  here  that  seven  years 
later,  while  Governor  of  Connecticut,  he  refused  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  east  of  Pawcatuck  river,  alleging  as  a  reason 
his  agreement  with   Clarke,  which  although  ignored  by 
Connecticut,  he  at  least  deemed  to  be  both  legally  and 
morally   binding   upon   that    colony.      The    questions   of 
boundary  and  of  jurisdiction  were  virtually  one,  and  are  so 
treated  in  Grovernor  Wintlirop's  message  to  the  General 
Assembly  at  Hartford. 

A  great  amount  of  business,  as  varied  in  kind  as  it  was  March 
complicated  in  its  nature,  devolved  upon  the  new  Legisla-  ■^• 
ture.  The  Assistants  were  now,  for  the  first  time,  invested 
with  legislative  power  by  the  charter,  and  acted  conjointly 
with  the  deputies.  The  Courts  required  to  be  remodelled 
in  accordance  with  the  charter.  Many  laws  were  to  be  re- 
pealed as  being  "  inconsistent  with  the  present  govern- 
ment," and  others  enacted  in  conformity  thereto.  Diffi- 
culties of  a  most  serious  nature  within  and  without  the 
colony  demanded  attention.  The  new  territory  of  Block 
Island  was  embraced  in  the  charter,  and  must  be  provided 
for.  Magistrates  were  to  be  apportioned  among  the  towns, 
and  the  usual  amount  of  private  business  was  to  be  trans- 
acted. 

Notice  being  given  to  all  the  people  to  draw  near,  the 
charter  was  read,  together  with  Mr.  Clarke's  letter  accom- 
panying it,  and  Mr.  Roger  Williams  was  requested  to 
transcribe  it.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
prologue  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Court,  which  prefaces 
the  records,  and  contains  a  formal  acknowledgment  of  grat- 
itude to  the  king  for  his  favor.     The  Assembly  then  en- 


302  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  tered  upon  the  business  of  legislation  by  prescribing  the 
_i^^  mode  of  calling  courts,  and  the  times  and  manner  of  hold- 
1663-4.  ing  them.  Two  General  Courts  of  trials  in  each  year  were 
j  estabhshed,  to  be  held  at  Newport  in  May  and  October, 
and  were  to  consist  of  the  Governor,  deputy  Governor,  or 
either  of  them,  with  at  least  six  Assistants.  Two  other 
Courts  of  trials  were  ajipointed  to  be  held  annually,  one  at 
Providence  in  September,  and  one  at  Warwick  in  March, 
.  at  which  at  least  three  Assistants,  and  a  jury  of  twelve 
men  selected  equally  from  each  town,  should  be  present. 
An  appeal  could  be  taken  from  these  to  the  General 
Courts.  Special  Courts  might  also  be  called,  at  the  re- 
quest and  expense  of  any  person,  w'ith  the  sanction  of 
the  Governor  or  deputy  Governor.  In  the  apportionment 
of  grand  and  petty  jurors,  Newport  was  to  furnish  five  of 
each,  Portsmouth  three,  Providence  and  Warwick  two  each  ; 
but  in  .that  of  State  magistrates,  the  two  Executives  and 
ten  Assistants,  five  were  to  be  inhabitants  of  Newport, 
three  of  Providence,  and  two  each,  of  Portsmouth  and 
Warwick  ;  and  the  precedency  of  the  towns  was  settled 
in  this  latter  order,  it  being  that  in  which  they  were  named 
in  the  charter.  The  Assistant  "  nearest  the  place  occa- 
tion  shall  present  "  was  to  act  as  Coroner. 

A  question  arose  whether  by  the  charter  it  was  pro- 
vided that  the  State  magistrates,  or  Council,  should  be 
elected  by  the  freemen  in  town  meeting,  or  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  It  was  decided  that,  unless  otherwise  ex- 
plained by  advices  from  England,  the  right  of  electing 
these  officers  should  vest  in  the  freemen. 

An  act  was  passed  taking  cognizance  of  the  intru- 
sions and  attenn)ted  usurj)ations  of  the  Atherton  com- 
pany, and  a  summons  was  issued  requiring  them  to  ap- 
l)ear  at  the  next  session  of  Assembly,  to  answer  for  their 
conduct  ;  and  similar  attempts  to  settle  in  the  colony, 
without  leave  first  obtained  from  the  Assembly,  were  for- 
bidden  under  pain  of  fine  and   imjtiisonment.     A  com- 


BLOCK    ISLAND    ANNEXED    TO    THE    COLONY.  303 

mittee  was  named  to  treat  with  Massachusetts  upon  the  chap. 
pending  difficulties  between  the  two  colonies.     Pumham,   ^^^^^^.i^ 
who,  at  the  instigation  of  Massachusetts,  had  subjected  ]^^^'^- 
himself  and  his  lands  to  her  jurisdiction,  and   retained      \, 
possession  of  part  of  the  tract  purchased  by  the  War- 
wick men,  was  notified,  upon  their  complaint,  that  he 
was  within   the  government  of  Khode   Island,  and  must 
adjust  his  diflerences  with  the  complainants  or  submit  to 
legal   process.       A  remonstrance  to   Connecticut  colony 
upon  the  riotous  conduct  of  the   men  of   Southertown, 
and  a  notice  of  intention  shortly  to  run  the  westerly  line 
of  Rhode  Island,  were  ordered  to  be  sent. 

A  curious  act  is  recorded  at  this  session  in  favor  of 
Capt.  John  Cranston,  who,  for  skill  in  his  profession,  was 
licensed  "  to  administer  phisicke  and  practice  chirurge- 
ry."  We  have  before  mentioned  instances  of  physicians 
being  licensed  by  the  Legislature,  but  in  this  case  the  act 
went  further,  and  we  have  now  to  record,  for  the  first 
time,  the  foriaal  conferring  of  the  degree  of  M.  D.  upon 
Capt.  Cranston  in  these  words  :  "  and  is  by  this  Court 
styled  and  recorded  Doctor  of  phissick  and  chirrurgery,  by 
the  authority  of  this  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Col- 
lony." 

Notice  was  sent  to  Block  Island  that  the  people  should 
appear  at  the  May  Court  to  be  received  into  the  colony, 
and  James  Sands,  already  a  freeman,  was  appointed  Con- 
stable. This  island,  the  earliest  authentic  history  of 
which  dates  from  the  Pequot  war,  and  has  already  been 
noticed  in  that  connection,  remained  subject  to  Massa- 
chusetts until  it  was  annexed  to  Rhode  Island  by  the 
royal  charter.  It  was  granted,  as  a  reward  for  public 
services,  to  Gov.  Endicott  and  three  others,'  who  sold  it 
two  years  later  for  five  hundred  pounds  to  Simon  Ray 
and  eight  associates.  The  following  year  they  commenced 
a  settlement,  liquidated  the  Indian  title,  subject  to  a  res- 

19th  Oct.,  1658.     See  M.  C.  R.,  iv.     Part  L,  p.  356. 


304  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

ervation  in  favor  of  the  natives,  and  set  apart  one-six- 
teenth of  the  lands  for  the  support  of  a  minister  forever. 
i6ti3-4.  Soon  afterwards  James  Sands,  wlio  had  followed  Ann 
Hutchinson  in  her  exile  to  the  hanks  of  the  Hudson,  re- 
turned and  settled  on  the  island.  About  two  years  had 
elapsed  since  the  settlement  was  commenced,  wTien  the 
jurisdiction  was  transferred  to  Khode  Island.'  The  re- 
moteness of  the  island  rendered  it  almost  independent  of 
',  the   colony,  and   produced  a  different   system  of  internal 

'  regulation  from  that  which  prevailed  in  the  other  towns. 

Its  exposed  situation  rendered  it  peculiarly  liable  to  suf- 
fer, not  only  from  the  native  Indians,  but  also  from  the 
attacks  of  piratical  vessels,  by  which  it  was  constantly 
threatened.  The  local  history  of  Block  Island,  truthfuU)' 
written,  would  present  an  interesting  study.  The  tradi- 
tionary history  of  the  aborigines  is  lull  of  the  romance  of 
war  ;  their  authentic  history  in  connection  with  the 
white's,  abounds  in  stirring  incidents  ;  the  peculiarities  of 
the  English  settlers  and  their  posterity,  their  customs, 
laws  and  domestic  institutions,  are  among  the  most  singu- 
lar and  interesting  developments  of  civilized  life  ;  while 
the  martial  deeds  of  a  people,  within  and  around  whose 
island  there  has  been  more  hard  fighting  than  on  any  ter- 
ritory of  equal  extent,  perhaps,  in  America,  and  where 
the  horrors  of  savage  and  of  civilized  warfare  have  alter- 
nately prevailed,  almost  without  cessation,  from  the  ear- 
liest traditionary  period  down  to  a  recent  date,  would, 
altogether,  furnish  materials  for  a  thrilling  history  that 
might  rival  tlie  pages  of  romance. 
10.  A  friendly  letter  was   sent  to   Connecticut,   in  con- 

formity to  the  vote  of  the  Assembly,  reciting  a  recent 
outrage  at  Westerly,  asking  that  such  acts  be  prevented 
in  future,  and  requesting  the  concurrence  of  Connecticut  in 
16  64.  riinning  the  line  between  the  two  colonies  at  an  early  date 
March  The  Conflict  of  jurisdictions  placed  the  Narraganset  men 
in  a  difficult   position.     They  wrote  to   Connecticut  for 


CONFLICTING   CLAIMS   TO   NABRAGANSET.  305 

advice,  saving  that  Kicliard  Smith,  jr.,  was  under  bonds  chap. 
to  answer  to  Rhode  Island,  and  that  a  constable  appointed  ..^^^.^^ 
by  Rhode  Island  might  soon  be  expected  at  Wickford.  •  16  6  4. 
The   Conncil   at  Hartford  erected  a  court  at  Wickford,       f.'^ 
and  conferred  on  the  inhabitants  power  to  choose  their 
officers,  recommended  them  to  obtain   "  an  able  orthodox 
minister,"  and  appointed  Capt.  Hutchinson  to  exercise 
all  males  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty  in  the 
use  of  arms,  six  times  a  year.     Wickford  was  now  a  fully 
organized  settlement,  with  control  over  "  the  places  ad- 
joining within  the  colony  of  Connecticut."     Fortunately, 
at  this  crisis,  a  measure  was  adopted  in  the  King's  Coun- 
cil, that   prevented  a  fatal  collision  between   the  deter- 
mined and  excited  disputants.     A  commission  was  issued      25. 
to  Col.   Richard  Nichols,  Sir  Robert  Carr,  George  Cart- 
wrigh",  and  Samuel  Maverick,  to  reduce  the  Dutch  prov- 
inces   in   America   to    subjection,  and   to   determine  all 
questions  of  appeal  and  of  jurisdiction,  and  all  boundary 
disputes  arising  in  the  New  England  colonies.^ 

At  the  same  time  a  new  and  formidable  claimant  ap- 
peared for  the  contested  territory  of  Narraganset.  The 
Duke  of  Hamilton  petitioned  the  King  for  confirmation  of 
his  rights  in  all  that  country,  and  much  more,  against  all  ^^^ 
persons  who  had  intruded  upon  the  grant  made  to  his 
father,  the  late  Marquis,  by  the  council  of  Plymouth.^  The 
deed  held  by  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  was  given  by  the 
Plymouth  company  when  on  the  point  of  surrendering 
their  charter,  and  was  of  little  intrinsic  value.  ^  It  how- 
ever served,  in  the  hands  of  a  powerful  nobleman,  still 
further  to  complicate  this  intricate  question.     It  was  a 

'  MS.  records  of  Connecticut  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc. 

*  S.  P.  0.  New  England  papers,  voL  i.  p.  194,  and  Mr.  Brown's  MS.  Col- 
lection, vol.  i.  39. 

^  S.  P.  0.  New  England  papers,  vol.  i.  p.  200,  and  Mr.  Brown's  MS.  Col- 
lection, vol  i.  40. 

*  Ante,  chap.  i.  p.  8.     The  deed  was  dated  April  22d,  1635,  less  than 
seven  weeks  before  the  surrender. 

VOL.  I.— 20 


306  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  deed  of  feofment,  and  conveyed  a  tract  extending  from 
^.^  Connecticut  river  to  Narraganset  bay,  "  about  sixty  miles" 
1  (i  0  4.  up  the  west  side  of  the  bay  to  the  head  thereof,  and  thence 
^^.'    north-west  sixty  miles,  where  the  line  turned  in  a  south- 
west course  to  a  point  sixty  miles  up  north-west  from  the 
mouth  of  Connecticut  river,  and  including  all  islands  with- 
in five  leagues  of  these  limits.     The  name  given  to  this 
magnificent  grant  was  "  the  county  of  Cambridge."  ' 

The  session  in  March  had  been  held  chiefly  for  organ- 
ization and  for  the  preparation  of  business.  The  first  reg- 
ular Assembly,  as  established  by  the  charter,  met  at  New- 
4.  port  in  May.  Benedict  Arnold  was  chosen  Governor,  Wil- 
liam Brenton,  deputy  Governor,  Joseph  Torrey,  Kecorder, 
James  Rogers,  Sergeant,  John  Coggeshall,  Treasurer,  John 
Easton,  Attorney,  and  Laurence  Turner,  Solicitor.  The 
latter  officer  declined  to  serve  and  was  excused-  Ten  As- 
sistants were  also  elected,  and  these  seventeen,  with  eigh- 
teen deputies  chosen  by  the  towns,  composed  the  General 
Assembly.  As  full  lists  of  the  seventeen  general  officers, 
chosen  annually  by  the  Assembly  are  given  under  each 
year  in  the  printed  Colonial  Records,  we  shall  hereafter, 
to  avoid  a  tedious  catalogue  of  names,  mention  only  the  two 
executive  officers.  For  the  same  reasons  we  have  not  here- 
tofore recorded  the  fists  of  commissioners,  or  dei>uties  im- 
der  the  first  patent.  They  were  eighteen  in  number  at 
this  session,  and  increased  two  with  the  addition  of  every 
new  town.  The  deputies  were  chosen  for  each  session  of 
the  Assembly,  always  twice  a  year,  and  frequently  oftcner. 
The  name  of  "  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions,*' with  the  word  "  Hope  "  above  the  anchor,  was 
adopted,  or  rather  continued,  as  the  seal  of  the  colony. 

The  afiairs  of  Block  Island  were  definitely  settled  at 
this  session.     Three  messengers  appeared^  from  the  island 

'  S.  p.  0.  New  England,  vol.  i.  8,  and  Mr.  Brown's  MSS.,  vol.  i.  No.  10; 
also  see  Report  of  Board  of  Trade  on  this  claim,  lOth  May,  161)7,  iu  Mc 
Brown's  MSS.,  vol.  7,  No.  21. 

'  James  Sands,  Thomas  Terry  and  Joseph  Kent. 


CONFLICTING   CLAIMS   TO   NARRAQANSET.  307 

to  signify  their  obedience  to  his  Majesty's  will.     A  petition  chap. 
in  behalf  of  sundry  householders  on  the  island,  that  they  ^J^:^ 
be  received  as  freemen,  was  granted.     The  srovernment  of  16  64. 
the  town  was  vested  in  the  hands  of  three  selectmen,  who      4;^ 
might  call  town  meetings,  hear  causes  of  less  amount  than 
forty  shillings,  grant    appeals   to  the   Greneral  Court   of 
trials  where  a  larger  sum  was  involved,  and  issue  warrants 
in  criminal  cases.     Liberty  to  send  two  deputies  to  the 
Assembly  was  given  to  the  town  ;  a  copy  of  the  laws  was 
to  be  furnished  them,  and  their  attention  was  specially  di- 
rected to  that  clause  of  the  charter  declaring  freedom  of 
conscience. 

Massachusetts  having  appointed  two  agents  to  treat 
with  Rhode  Island  in  regard  to  Block  Island  and  the  Pe- 
quot  country.  John  Greene  and  Joseph  Torrey  w^ere  com- 
missioned to  meet  them  at  Rehoboth  on  the  last  day  of 
the  month.  Richard  Smith,  jr.,  and  Thomas  Gould  of 
Narraganset,  were  bound  over  in  the  sum  of  four  hundred 
pounds  each,  and  two  Newport  men  in  one-half  that  sum, 
to  appear  when  called  for,  upon  the  charge  of  seeking  to 
bring  in  a  foreign  jurisdiction  within  the  Umits  of  the  col- 
ony. These  bonds  were  afterwards  released.  A  warrant 
for  the  same  offence  was  issued  against  John  Greene,  sen., 
who  appeared  and  confessed  his  fault.  Upon  petition  he 
was  pardoned,  and  received  again  under  protection  as  a 
freeman  of  the  colony.  Richard  Smith,  sen.,  was  written 
to,  to  appear  before  the  Court  on  a  similar  charge.  He 
made  no  reply  to  the  letter,  but  enclosed  it  to  Capt.  Hutch-  ^^ 
in  son,  desiring  him  to  inform  Connecticut  of  the  affair, 
which  he  did.' 

An  active  correspondence  now  ensued  between  Rhode 
Island  and  the  rival  claimants  for  her  soil.     The  meeting      31. 
at  Rehoboth  with  the  Massachusetts  agents  had  no  im- 
portant results.     Block  Island  had  become  private  prop- 
erty before  the  transfer,  and  its  owners  had  since  cheerfully 

'  These  three  letters  are  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  45-9. 


20. 


308  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

adopted  the  provisions  of  the  charter  annexing  it  to  Rhode 
Island.     The  Pequot  country,  still  claimed  by  Massachu- 

16  6  4.  setts  in  right  of  conquest,  was  by  the  Connecticut  charter 
entirely  within  her  jurisdiction,  while  the  claim  of  Rhode 
Island  for  that  portion  of  it  east  of  the  river,  under  her 
more  recent  charter,  still  left  Massachusetts  out"  of  the 
question  ;  besides  which,  the  royal  commissioners  had 
power  to  arrange  all  such  disputes,  so  that  further  discus- 
sion was  useless.  The  report  of  the  agenta  was  accepted 
by  the  General  Court."  Plymouth  now  entered  the  field, 
complaining  in  a  letter  to  Rhode  Island  of  intrusions  upon 
her  limits.  But  the  most  serious  dispute  in  progress  was 
that  with  Connecticut.  No  direct  reply  having  been  re- 
ceived to  the  letter  written  in  March,  but  only  an  intima- 
tion from  Governor  Winthrop,  that  its  contents  would  be 

July  considered  by  the  Assembly  at  Hartford,  another  letter 
^'  was  sent,  by  a  special  messenger,  referring  to  the  former 
one,  and  stating  what  had  since  been  done  by  Rhode 
Island  with  regard  to  the  Connecticut  officers  in  Narra- 
ganset,  whose  commissions,  it  was  urged,  should  be  re- 
voked. These  officers,  Richard  Smith  and  William  Hud- 
son, with  Edward  Hutchinson  then  residing  at  Boston,  also 
12.  wrote  to  Connecticut  about  some  resistance  offered  to  the 
administrator  of  Capt.  Athcrton's  estate,  who,  in  behalf  of 
the  heir,  had  endeavored  to  take  possession  of  the  property, 
but  was  resisted  by  the  tenant  who  claimed  allegiance  to 
Rhode  Island,  although  he  was  one  of  those  who  had  sub- 
scribed the  submission  to  Connecticut  two  years  before. 
Indeed,  several  of  the  Narraganset  settlers  had  already 
changed  their  views,  and  were  inclined  to  Rhode  Island, 
while  the  original  purchasers,  many  of  whom  resided  in 
Boston,  remained  firm  in  their  preference  for  Connecticut. 
SO.  Connecticut  replied  to  both  of  the  Rhode  Island  letters, 
proposing  a  joint  commission  to  meet  in  October  to  settle 
all  disputes,  but  asserting  her  claim  to  jurisdiction,  defend- 

>  19th  Oct.,  M.  C.  R.,  Vol.  iv.  Part  ii.  p.  140. 


SUBJUGATION    OF    THE    DUTCH    PROVINCES.  309 

ing  the  acts  of  her  officers,  and  desiring  Rhode  Island  to  chap 
forbear  further  interference  with  them.  .^^^ 

On  the  arrival  of  the  English  commissioners  at  Boston,   16  64. 
Gov.  Endicot  assembled  the  Council,  to  receive  the  royal      23.' 
letter  and  the  instructions  that  required  them  to  raise  a      26. 
force  to  act  against  the  Dutch,  if  it  should  be  necessary. 
A  special  session  of  the  General  Court  was  held,  and  two      3.  * 
hundred  men  were  voted  for  the  service,  to  be  ready  by  the 
twentieth  of  the  month.     But  their  services  were  not  re- 
quired, for  upon  the  appearance  of  the  fleet  off  the  port, 
New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York,  surrendered  to  the  Brit-      27 
ish  crown.     Arania,  now  Albany,  soon  followed,  and  after-    Sept. 
wards  Delaware  castle,  and  other  forts  held  by  the  Dutch 
and  Swedes,  likewise  surrendered  to  Sir  Robert  Carr.     The 
whole  conquered  territory  was  placed  under  the  government 
of  Col.  Nichols, 

The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  sitting  at 
Hartford,  of  course  took  ground  against  Rhode  Island,  and  9. 
addressed  to  her  a  letter  full  of  warning  and  advice,  based 
upon  the  royal  letter  of  the  previous  year,  wherein  the  Nar- 
raganset  inirchasers  were  placed  under  their  protection.* 
Probably  they  did  not  know  by  what  means  that  letter 
had  been  obtained.  Rhode  Island  took  no  notice  of  this 
mi^^sive,  but  acknowledged  receipt  of  the  one  from  Con- 
necticut, and  referred  it  to  the  General  Assembly  for  a 
more  full  reply. 

The  royal  Commissioners,  having  nearly  completed  the 
subjugation  of  the  Dutch  provinces,  had  their  head-quarters 
on  board  the  English  fleet  now  being  in  the  harbor  of  New 
York.  A  delegation  consisting  of  John  Clarke,  who  had 
lately  returned  home,  Capt.  John  Cranston  and  Wiiham 
Dyre,  was  sent  on  with  a  letter  from  the  authorities  of 
Rhode  Island,  expressing  the  gratitude  of  the  colony  to  his 
Majesty  for  the  charter,  and  congratulating  the  Commis- 
sioners.    It  appears  by  this  letter  that  a  previous  one,  of 

*  Hazard's  State  Papers,  ii.  499. 


20 


310  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    IIHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  like  purport,  had  been  sent  by  the  hands  of  Capt.  Baxter. 
^^'     but  at  that  time  it  was  not  known  where  the  Comraission- 

1 6  04.  ers  could  be  found.     The  messengers  were  kindly  received. 

^'     and  a  gracious  answer  was  sent  back  on  their  return.     The 

courtesy  was  acknowledged  by  deputy  Governor  Brenton, 

8.      in  another  letter,  inviting  the  Commissioners,  upon  their 

visitins:  Rhode  Island,  to  make  their  home  at  his  house. ' 
13.  The  Connecticut  Assembly,  at  their  next  meeting,  ap- 

pointed a  committee  to  arrange  the  boundary  questions 
pending  between  that  colony  and  both  Rhode  Island  and 
Ma.ssachusetts,  but  ordered  that  they  should  not  give  up 
any  portion  of  their  charter  limits.^  This,  so  far  as  con- 
cerned Rhode  Island,  was  equivalent  to  making  no  ap- 
pointment. 
20.  At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  the  name  of 

John  Clarke  appears  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  deputies. 
He  had  returned  in  June,  after  an  absence  of  twelve  years, 
spent  in  the  faithful  service  of  the  colony,  in  England,  and 
again  resumed  a  place  in  the  public  councils,  where,  under 
the  first  patent,  he  had  been  so  useful.  The  joy  of  the  As- 
sembly in  having  him  once  more  among  them,  is  evinced 
in  a  singular  and  emphatic  manner  in  the  preamble  to  the 
first  public  law  passed  at  this  session,  establishing  proxy 
voting  ;  "  and  this  present  Assembly  (now  by  God's  gra- 
cious providence  enjoying  the  helpfuU  presance  of  our  much 
honoured  and  beloved  Mr,  John  Clarke,)  doth. declare  and 
ordayne,  &c." 

It  was  ordered  that  at  every  meeting  of  the  x\ssembly, 
whether  regular  or  adjourned,  the  charter  should  be  read. 
The  inconvenience  to  the  freemen  of  the  remote  towns,  oc- 
casioned by  having  to  vote  in  person  at  Newport,  had  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  Assembly  at  its  May  session, 
and  been  referred  to  this  Assembly  to  devise  some  legal 

'  The  original  letters  are  both  in  S.  P.  0.  New  England  papers,  vol.  i.  pp 
206-9. 

^  Col.  Rec.  of  Connecticut,  ii.  436. 


PROXY    VOTES. THE   INTERPOLATED    PHRASES.  311 

mode  of  voting  by  proxy.     They  enacted  that  all  who  did    chap. 
not  come  in  person  to  Newport  might  give  their  votes,    .J^^^ 
sealed  up  and  subscribed  with  their  own  names  on  the   16  6  4. 
outside,  into  the  bands  of  a  magistrate  at  any  regular  town      26 
meeting,  to  be  delivered  to  the  Executive  at  the  Court  oi 
election  in  Newport,  there  to  be  opened  and  counted.     If 
the  voter  was  prevented  from  attending  town  meeting,  the 
magistrate  might  yet  receive  his  vote  in  the  same  manner. 

Edmund  Calverly,  a  deputy  from  Warwick,  had  made 
serious  charges  against  the  Governor,  in  respect  to  his  of- 
ficial conduct,  which  were  discussed,  and  the  complainant 
required  to  prefer  his  charges  in  writing.  He  did  so,  but 
faihng  to  sustain  them,  in  the  opinion  of  the  court,  he 
was  suspended  from  voting  until  he  should  give  satisfac- 
tion for  his  ofience.' 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  revise  the  laws,  to  see 
if  any  were  left  unrepealed  that  were  inconsistent  with  the 
present  charter,  and  to  codify  them  for  more  convenient 
reference.  At  the  head  of  this  committee  was  John  Clarke, 
and  the  second  member  was  Roger  Williams  ;  two  names, 
of  which  the  presence  of  either  sufficiently  refutes  the  slan- 
der contained  in  Chalmers,'^  and  copied  by  later  writers, 
attributing  the  interpolated  restrictions  upon  religious  free- 
dom to  the  act  of  this  Assembly.  That  these  words  [pro- 
fessing Christianity]  and  [Roman  Cathohcs  excepted]  were 
the  additions  of  later  times,  is  as  clear  as  any  fact  in  his- 
tory. That  they  were  never  placed  there  at  all  by  the 
deliberate  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Rhode  Island,  but  were 
occasioned  by  some  contingency  of  English  politics,  we  fully 
believe,  and  that  the  time  will  come  when  this  unjust  as- 
persion upon  the  freedom  of  the  State  will  be  exj)lained, 
and  its  charactei  be  vindicated  beyond  a  doubt — as  recent 
developments  have  brought  to  light  the  conspiracy  against 

'  At  the  May  session  the  next  year,  Calverly  failing  to  prove  his  charges, 
the  Governor  was  declared  hy  a  vote  of  the  Assembly  to  be  innocent  of  the 
matters  charged. 

-  Political  Annals,  Book  i.  chap.  xi. 


312  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  reputation  of  Clarke — we  are  firmly  convinced.  Thia 
subject  will  be  considered  at  length  in  a  later  volume  when 
we  come  to  the  repeal  of  the  interpolated  phrases. 

Agents  were  appointed  to  treat  with  Plymouth,  two 
of  whom  were  the  deputy  Governor  and  lioger  Williams. 
They  were  commissioned  to  run  the  eastern  line  of  the 
colony  in  connection  with  Plymouth  agents.  A  letter  was 
sent  to  Plymouth,  suggesting  the  time  and  place  for  a 
meeting  to  arrange  differences  between  the  colonies.  A 
similar  course  was  adopted  as  to  Connecticut.  John 
Clarke,  John  Greene,  and  Josejih  Torrey  were  commissioned 
to  run  the  western  line,  and  to  arrange  all  other  disputes 
with  the  Connecticut  agents  ;  but  should  these  refuse  to 
run  the  line,  the  Ehode  Island  men  were  to  do  it  alone. 
A  letter  was  also  sent  to  Connecticut,  regretting  that  the 
day  fixed  by  the  Hartford  Assembly  for  this  purpose  was 
passed,  and  naming  the  twenty-ninth  of  November  as  the 
time  for  a  meeting  at  Southertown,  alias  Pawcatuck. 
Kov.  Warrants  were  ordered  for  the  arrest  of  William  Hud- 

son, of  Boston,  and  Richard  Smith,  sen.,  of  Narraganset,  for 
unlawfully  exercising  the  office  of  constable  within  the 
limits  of  the  colony  under  a  Connecticut  commission  ;  but 
these  warrants  were  not  to  issue  till  after  the  time  ap- 
pointed to  treat  with  Connecticut. 

A  law  was  passed  at  this  session  which  shows  the  wis- 
dom and  foresight  of  our  ancestors,  in  obviating  the  diffi- 
culties that  might  arise  from  the  existence  of  third  parties 
at  a  general  election  ;  "  that  whereas  there  may  happen 
a  division  iu  the  vote  soe  as  the  greater  halfe  may  not  pitch 
directly  on  one  certaine  person,  yett  the  person  which  hath 
the  most  votes  shall  be  deemed  lawfully  chosen."  It  will 
thus  be  seen  tliat  a  plurality  choice  was  early  adopted  in 
this  State.  It  was  also  provided,  that  in  case  of  refusal 
to  accept  office,  the  vacancy  was  to  be  filled  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  until  the  place  was  supplied. 

The  old  law  requiring  each  town  to  furnish  itself  with 


HEAVY    TAXATION    AND    POVERTY    OF    THE    PEOPLE.  313 

a  cage,  or  a  pair  of  stocks,  wherein  to  secure  offenders,  was  chap 
reenacted.  -^^,-^ 

An  audit  of  the  accounts  of  John  Clarke  showed  a  sum  16  6  4 
of  three  hundred  and  forty-three  pounds  to  be  due  to  him 
by  the  colony  for  his  expenses  while  obtaining  the  charter, 
one  hundred  and  one  of  which  were  to  be  paid  in  England, 
and  one  hundred  pounds  had  been  voted  as  a  gratuity  the 
previous  year.  To  meet  this  debt,  and  the  expenses  of  the 
several  boundary  commissions  recently  appointed,  a  tax  of 
six  hundred  pounds,  current  money,  was  laid.  Of  this 
Providence  and  Portsmouth  were  taxed  one  hundred 
pounds  each,  Warwick  eighty  pounds,  Petacomscot  twenty 
pounds,  Conanicut  thirty-six  pounds.  Block  Island  fifteen 
pounds,  and  Newport  the  balance,  being  two  hundred  and 
forty-nine  pounds.  In  the  collection  of  this  tax  wheat  was 
valued,  in  colony  currency,  at  four  and  sixpence  per  bushel, 
l^eas  at  three  and  sixpence,  and  pork  at  three  pounds  ten 
shillings  per  barrel.  It  was  a  heavy  burden  for  the  im- 
poverished towns,  and  years  elapsed  before  it  was  paid. 
Warwick  sent  a  formal  protest  against  the  large  proportion  Dec 
assessed  to  her.'  More  than  a  year  elapsed  before  Ports- 
mouth levied  her  proportion,  and  then  she  sent  a  deputa- 
tion to  treat  with  Dr.  Clarke  on  the  subject."^  Providence 
was  equally  backward  in  meeting  the  demand.  The 
northern  towns  complained  that  they  had  been  at  heavy 
charges  for  the  two  missions  of  Koger  Williams,  and  there-  16G4-S 
fore  should  not  bear  so  large  a  proportion  of  those  for  that 
of  Dr.  Clarke,  The  rate  remained  uncollected  until  en- 
forced by  a  subsequent  Assembly.  That  it  should  be  so, 
and  that  Mr.  Williams  also  was  never  fully  paid  even  his 
expenses,  attests  the  poverty  of  the  colonists  at  this  time. 

The  arrival  of  Sir  Robert  Carr  at  Newport,  where  he     j, 
was  detained  some  days  by  a  storm,  gave  great  satisfaction      23. 
to  the  people  of  Rhode  Island.     Whatever  fears  were  felt 

'  Printed  ia  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  ii.  78. 

*  See  Portsmouth  Records,  March  1665-6. 


Feb 


314  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ty  the  rest  of  New  England  at  the  coming  of  these  men, 

^  ;^  their  presence  was  no  source  of  regret  in  this  jurisdiction. 
1664-5.  The  protection  that  a  royal  commission  invariably  afforded 
to  the  oppressed  and  hated  colony,  while  it  embittered  the 
animosity  of  her  neighbors,  increased  the  feeling  of.loyalty 
that  a  sense  of  gratitude  had  inspired,  and  which  was  dis- 
played in  something  more  than  fulsome  or  hollow  profes- 

27.  sions.  Leaving  Newport  Sir  Robert  spent  some  days  with 
•  Mr.  Willet,  at  his  residence  on  Narragansefbay,  and  per- 
suaded him  to  go  to  New  York,  where,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, he  became  the  first  Mayor  of  that  city.  The  letter 
that  Carr  wrote  at  this  time  to  Col.  Nichols  is  full  of  in- 
terest. '  He  had  brought  to  Rhode  Island  the  royal  letter, 
and  one  from  Lord  Clnrendon  to  the  colony,  which  had 
been  given  them  on  their  departure  from  England  to  be 
delivered  in  person  to  this  Government.     A  grateful  ac- 

3.  knowledgment  was  made  by  the  Governor  to  Col.  Nichols, 
wherein  the  conduct  of  the  Narraganset  company  was  ad- 
verted to  and  protection  sought  against  their  proceedings.'- 
Complaints  were  made  to  Connecticut  by  the  Pawca- 
tuck  Indians  of  the  conduct  of  James  Babcock  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Westerly  in  demanding  rent,  and  thrcaten- 
int^  to  drive  them  from  their  lands.  The  Council  at  Hart- 
ford  warned  the  Rhode  Island  men  to  forbear  from  urging 

30.  their  claims  while  the  question  of  jurisdiction  remained 
open.  A  special  council  was  called  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  attend  Gov.  Winthrop  to  Narraganset,  there  to  meet  the 
royal  commissioners  and  urge  the  claim  of  Connecticut  to 
that  country  under  her  charter. 

15.  Upon  the  return  of  the  three  commissioners  from  New 

York,  leaving  Col.  Nichols  there  in  command,  they  pre- 
pared at  once  to  visit  the  several  colonies,  and  to  investi- 
irate  the  contiictins;  claims  for  the  soil  of  Rhode  Island. 
Plymouth  received  their  first  attention.     The  General  As- 

'  Original  in  S.  P.  0.  New  England,  Vol.  i.  p.  218. 
■'  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  ii.  86-9. 


20 


ORGANIZATION    OF    KINGS   PROVINCE,  315 

Bembly  held  a  special  session  to  prepare  for  their  reception  chap. 
at  Newport,  and  appointed  a  committee'  to  meet  with  the   .^-,_^ 
commissioners  at  Seaconck  to  adjust  the  boundary  with  ^|?^'^- 
Plymouth.     All  the  expenses  of  the  royal  commissioners      27. 
were  to  be  borne  by  the  colony.     The  commissioners  could 
not  make  a  definite  settlement  of  the  line  between  Ply- 
month  and  Khode  Island.     In  their  report  to  Lord  Arling- 
ton they  say  that  the  two  colonies  could  not  agree,  for  that 
Ehode  Island  claimed  a  strip  three  miles  in  breadth  east 
of  the  bay,  which  Plymouth  could  not  concede  without 
great  prejudice  to  her  interests,  and  therefore  they  had,  for 
the  present,  established  the  bay  as  the  boundary  until  his 
Majesty's  will  could  be  known.     Thence  the  commission-  March 
ers  came  to  Rhode  Island.     In  their  instructions  they  were 
furnished  with  a  series  of  propositions  to  present  to  each       4. 
of  the  colonies,  a  copy  of  which  was  forthwith  given  to  the 
Governor.^     Soon  afterwards  the  commissioners  went  over 
to   Pettaquamscot  to  settle  the  affairs   of  Narraganset. 
There  the  submission  of  the  Narraganset  sachems  was  con- 
firmed.    The  Indians  agreed  to  pay  an  annual  tribute  of     20. 
two  wolf  skins,  and  not  to  make  war  or  to  sell  land  with- 
out consent  of  the  authorities  appointed  over  them  by  the 
crown.^      The  whole  country  from  the  bay  to  Pawcatuck 
river  was  named  Kings  Province,  and  all  persons  were  for- 
bidden to  exercise  jurisdiction  therein  without  authority 
from   the  commissioners.      The  governor  and  council  of 
Rhode  Island,  fourteen  in  number,  were  appointed  Magis- 
trates of  Kings  Province,  to  hold  office  until  the  annual 
election  in  May.     The  mortgaged  lauds  held  by  the  Ath- 
erton  company,  were  ordered  to  be  released  upon  payment 
of  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five  fathoms  of  peage  by  Pes- 


'  John  Clarke,  John  Sandford,  John  Cranston,  Roger  Williams  and  Ran- 
dall Holden. 

^  These  are  printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  110,  with  the  action  of  the  As- 
sembly thereon, 

*  S.  P.  0.  New  Kngland  papers,  Vol.  i.  p.  231. 


316  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

sicus  or  Ninecraft  to  any  of  the  claimants.  The  purchase 
of  the  two  tracts,  actually  bought  by  this  company,  was 
1  G  G  5.  declared  void  for  lack  of  consideration  in  the  deed,  and  be- 
cause the  country  had  previously  been  surrendered  to  the 
crownj  and  the  purchasers  were  ordered  to  vacate  the 
premises  within  six  months,  provided  the  Indians  shuuld 
i:efund  the  sum  of  three  hundred  fathoms  of  peage,  which 
was  all  they  had  ever  received  for  the  land.'  At  the  ex- 
•  piration  of  the  time  the  order  to  vacate  was'  revoked,  and 
the  settlers  were  permitted  to  remain  till  his  Majesty's  will 
was  further  known.  From  Pettaquamscot  the  commis- 
..  sioners  proceeded  to  Warwick.  There  the  controversy 
4.  about  the  lands  of  Westerly  was  decided  in  unequivocal 
terms,  by  a  decree  that  no  lands  conquered  from  the  na- 
tives should  be  disposed  of  by  any  colony  unless  both  the 
cause  of  the  conquest  was  just  and  the  soil  was  included 
in  the.  charter  of  the  colony  ;  and  further  that  no  colony 
should  attempt  to  exercise  jurisdiction  beyond  its  chartered 
limits.  The  grants  made  by  Massachusetts  "  or  by  that 
usurped  authority  called  the  United  Colonies,"  were  de- 
clared void,  the  settlers  upon  such  grants  were  ordered  to 
vacate  before  the  twenty-ninth  of  Sej)tember,  and  not  to 
prevent  the  Pequots  from  jjlanting  during  the  summer  nor 
to  interfere  with  the  improvements  of  the  lawful  i)ur- 
chasers."^  Pumham,  the  subject  of  Massachusetts,  who 
still  refused  to  leave  Warwick  Neck,  although  the  land 
had  been  fairly  purchased  from  his  superior  sachem  many 
years  before,  was  ordered  by  the  commissioners  to  remove 
within  a  year  to  some  place  to  be  provided  for  him  either 
by  Massachusetts  or  by  Pessicus.  For  this  he  was  to  re- 
ceive twenty  pounds  from  Warwick,  and  if  he  subjected 
himself  to  Pessicus,  the  latter  was  to  receive  ten  pounds, 
upon  furnishing  him  and  his  men  with  a  place.  The 
money  was  paid  by  Warwick,  but  Pumham  refused  to  ful- 

'  This  important  decree  is  in  Potter's  Narrnganset  K.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  1 71) 
"  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  9.j. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    ROYAL   COMMISSIONERS.  317 

fil  his  former  contract  or  to  obey  the  order  of  the  commis-   chap. 
sioners,  relying,  as  it  appears,  upon  the  continued  protec-   ^^Z,^^ 
tion  of  Massachusetts. '   A  further  decree  was  issued  making  16  6  5. 
the  governor,  deputy,  and  twelve  assistants,  who  might       y " 
hold  these  offices,  from  time  to  time,  by  election  in  Rhode 
Island,  to  be  likewise  magistrates  of  Kings  Province,  hav- 
ing the  entire  control  of  that  territory,  and  any  seven  of 
them  might  constitute  a  court  therein. 

At  the  May  election  a  great  change  was  made  in  the  May 
list  of  Assistants,  but  three  of  the  old  set  being  returned. 
Two  additional  deputies,  elected  from  Block  Island,  took 
their  seats.  A  new  form  of  engagement  to  be  taken  by 
the  officers,  and  of  reciprocal  engagement  to  be  given  to 
them,  by  the  administering  officer,  in  the  name  of  the  State, 
was  adopted.  The  royal  commissioners  had  not  only  to 
adjust  the  disputes  of  a  public  nature  in  the  colonies,  but 
a  great  number  of  private  matters  Avere  submitted  to  their 
decision  upon  petition  of  the  parties.  Such  were,  for  the 
most  part,  referred  by  them  to  the  local  authorities  to  de- 
termine, and  much  of  the  time  of  the  Assembly  at  this 
session  was  occupied  in  those  affairs.  Some  of  them  had  a 
bearing  upon  the  public  interests,  involving  charges  against 
the  Assembly  itself,  as  did  the  cases  of  Calverley  and  of 
William  Harris,  which,  for  this  reason,  were  referred  back 
to  the  commissioners.  William  Dyre,  the  newly  chosen 
Solicitor  for  the  colony,  having  been  guilty  of  a  similar  im- 
propriety, in  a  petition  to  the  commissioners,  admitted  his 
fault,  in  writing,  to  the  Assembly,  and  received  pardon. 

The  five  propositions  presented  by  the  commissioners 
on  their  first  coming  to  Rhode  Island  were  placed  before 
the  Assembly.  They  are  as  follows  :  "  It  is  his  Majesty's 
will  and  pleasure  ; 

"1.  That  all  householders  inhabiting  tliis  colony  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  that  the  administration  of 
justice  be  in  his  Majesty's  name. 

'  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  132. 


318  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

"  2.  That  all  men  of  competent  estates  and  of  civil  con- 
versation, who  acknowledge  and  are  obedient  to  the  civil 
magistrate,  though  of  different  judgments,  may  be  admit- 
ted to  be  freemen,  and  have  liberty  to  choose,  and  to  be 
chosen,  officers  both  military  and  civil. 

"  3.  That  all  men  and  women  of  orthodox  opinion,  com- 
petent knowledge,  and  civil  lives,  who  acknowledge  and 
are  obedient  to  the  civil  magistrate,  and  are  not  scandalous, 
may  be  admitted  to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  their  children  to  Baptisme,  if  they  desire  it,  either  by 
admitting  them  into  the  congregations  already  gathered, 
or  permitting  them  to  gather  themselves  into  such  congre- 
gations where  they  may  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  that  difference  in  opinion  may  not  break  the 
bond  of  peace  and  charity. 

"  4.  That  all  laws  and  expressions  in  laws  derogatory  to 
his  Majesty,  if  any  such  have  been  made  in  these  late  and 
troublesome  times,  may  be  repealed,  altered  and  taken  off 
the  files. 

"  5.  That  the  colony  be  put  into  such  a  posture  of  de- 
fence that  if  there  should  be  any  invasion  upon  this  island, 
or  elsewhere  in  this  colony  (which  God  forbid)  you  might 
in  some  measure  be  in  readiness  to  defend  yourselves,  or  if 
need  be,  to  relieve  your  neighbors  according  to  the  power 
given  you  by  the  King  in  your  charter,  and  to  us  in  the 
King's  commission  and  instructions." 

Upon  these  proposals  the  Assembly  took  immediate 
action.  For  the  oath  required  in  the  first,  they  plead  the 
scruples  of  many  in  the  colony  against  that  particular 
form,  but  prepared  "  an  engagement "  of  similar  purport, 
and  which,  so  far  as  concerned  its  binding  force,  was  to  the 
same  effect.  This  was  to  be  administered  to  all  the  free- 
men at  their  next  town  meetings,  whoever  refused  to  take 
it  was  to  be  disfranchised,  and  no  one  could  be  admitted 
a  freeman  without  first  taking  it.  The  second  proposal 
was  accepted,  and  the  mode  of  application  for  those  who 


ACTION  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  UPON  THE  FIVE  PBOPOSITIONS.  31 S 

desired  to  be  made  freemen  was  prescribed.  The  third  chap. 
met  with  the  cordial  concurrence  of  the  Assembly.  It  was  ^,.1^ 
in  imison  with  the  spirit  of  the  colonj^,  and  with  the  terms  16  6  5. 
of  the  charter.  In  embodying  it  in  the  instructions  of  the 
commissioners,  for  the  good  of  all  the  American  colonies, 
Charles  II.  exhausted  the  force  of  his  famous  promise  con- 
tained in  the  Declaration  of  Breda.  The  toleration  thus 
extended  to  the  remote  dependencies  was  denied  to  those 
to  whom  it  had  first  been  pledged.  The  hearty  accept- 
ance by  the  Assembly  of  this  recommendation  contrasts 
with  the  qualified  assent  given  to  it  by  Plymouth,  the 
most  liberal  of  the  other  colonies,  where  payment  for  the 
support  of  the  settled  ministers  was  insisted  upon,  in  their 
reply,  to  be  made  by  all  "  until  they  have  one  of  their  own.'' 
The  essence  of  an  established  church,  the  compulsory  sup- 
port of  its  clergy,  was  thus  maintained  even  in  the  liberal 
colony  of  the  Pilgrims.  Connecticut  assented  to  the  same 
proposition  on  condition  that  the  maintenance  of  the 
public  minister  was  not  hindered.'  Upon  the  fourth  pro- 
posal the  Assembly  declared  that  all  acts  of  the  nature  re- 
ferred to  were  repealed  when  the  King  was  proclaimed, 
and  a  further  revision  of  the  laws  was  ordered  for  that  spe- 
cific purpose.  It  was  probably  owing  to  this  step  that 
the  leaf  of  the  Warwick  records  was  aftenvards  torn  out  by 
order  of  the  town.^ 

In  obedience  to  the  last  command,  to  place  the  colony 
in  a  posture  of  defence,  the  Assembly  passed  a  militia  law 
requiring  six  trainings  a  year,  under  a  heavy  penalty,  and 
allowing  nine  shillings  a  year  for  the  pay  of  each  enlisted 

>  S.  p.  0.  New  England,  v.  i.  p.  248-58. 

^  The  inscription  records  the  contents  and  is  as  follows:  "  This  leafe  was 
torn  out  by  order  of  j"  towne  the  29th  of  June,  1667,  it  being  j^  submition 
to  y-  Stat  of  England  without  y"  Kisg  Majesty,  it  being  y«  I3th  page."  Yet 
a  former  entry  to  the  same  effect  as  the  one  here  destroyed  seems  to  have  es- 
caped the  observation  of  the  clerk,  and  remains  to  this  day  on  the  ancient 
records  of  the  town  as  passed  March  8th,  1652-3.  The  Providence  records 
were  not  mutilated,  and  the  entry  remains  in  the  same  woKds  as  that  of  War- 
wick. 


320  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    soldier.     Every  man  was  required  to  keep  on  hand  two 

TV 

.^.^^^  pounds  of  powder,  and  four  of  lead.  Each  town  was  obliged 
16  6  5.  to  maintain  a  public  magazine  for  its  own  defence,  for 
which  Newport  was  taxed  fifty  pounds  and  the  other  three 
towns  each  twenty  pounds. 

Coddington,  who  with  Easton  and  others  had  become 
Quakers,  had  sent  a  paper  to  the  commissioners  in  March, 
of  what  nature  we  are  unable  to  say,  to  which  an  answer 
was  made  immediately  and  communicated  •  to  the  gov- 
ernor, to  be  presented  to  the  Quakers  in  presence  of  the 
Assembly.  This  was  done,  and  at  the  same  time  a  copy 
15.  of  the  five  propositions  was  served  upon  them  to  consider 
and  obey. 

The  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  private  cases, 
was  not  limited  in  these  early  times,  to  legislative  meas- 
ures. Indeed  the  Court  of  trials  was  made  up  from  its 
members,  and  the  whole  body  often  exercised  strictly  ju- 
dicial powers  upon  petition  of  individuals.  Not  only 
were  divorces  granted  and  a  separate  maintenance  award- 
ed to  the  wife,  but  the  whole  proj^erty  of  the  husband 
was  attached  and  held  by  the  Assembly,  until  the  j)ro- 
visions  of  the  decree  had  been  satisfied.  In  the  case  of 
John  Porter,  at  this  session,  they  went  even  further,  and 
annulled  all  transfers  of  property,  that  had  been  made  by 
him  since  the  separation  from  his  wife,  which  had  not  al- 
ready been  recorded.  Upon  his  settling  a  satisfactory 
estate  upon  the  wife  these  disabilities  were  removed. 

Criminal  causes  were  likewise  tried,  upon  petition,  by 
the  Assembly.  Peter  Tollman  applied  for  a  divorce  from 
his  wife  on  the  ground  of  adultery.  The  woman,  being 
brought  before  the  Assembly,  admitted  the  charge.  The 
petition  was  granted  at  once,  and  then  the  criminal,  upon 
her  own  confession,  was  arraigned  for  sentence.  Tlie  pen- 
alty was  a  fine  and  whipping,  and  she  was  accordingly 
sentenced,  by  the  terms  of  the  law,  to  pay  the  fine  of  ten 
pounds,  and  to  receive  fifteen  stripes  at   Portsmouth  on 


May. 


PROPOSED   HARBOR   AT    BLOCK   ISLAND.  321 

the  ensuing  Monday,  and  on  tlie  following  week  another  chap. 
fifteen  stripes  at  Newport,  and  to  be  imprisoned  until  the  ^^ 
sentence  was  fulfilled.  Upon  her  petition  for  mercy  the  \^^^' 
Court  again  examined  her  as  to  whether  she  intended 
to  return  to  her  husband.  This  she  refused  to  do  upon 
any  terms.  Her  petition  was  denied,  and  she  was  re- 
manded for  punishment. ' 

The  wide  distinction  recognized  in  our  day  between 
the  three  branches  of  government  was  not  so  early  under- 
stood. Under  the  first  patent  the  President  and  Assistants 
were  executive  officers,  and  had  no  share  in  legislation  in 
virtue  of  their  position.  By  the  royal  charter  the  governor 
and  council  became  ex-officio  legislators  in  common  with 
the  deputies,  and  all  alike  exercised  judicial  powers.  At 
this  time  they  sat  together  as  one  House  of  Assembly,  and 
although  a  movement  was  made  the  next  year  to  alter 
this  system,  it  was  stiU  thirty  years  before  the  two  bodies 
were  fully  recognized  as  separate  and  co-ordinate  branches 
of  the  legislature,  and  more  than  eighty  years  before  judi- 
cial powers  ceased  to  be  exercised  by  them,  upon  the 
establishment  of  a  supreme  court  of  judicature. 

The  necessity  of  a  harbor  at  Block  Island  was  so  ap- 
parent to  the  first  settlers,  that  they  took  the  earUest  oc- 
casion afforded  by  the  presence  of  their  deputies  in  the 
General  Assembly,  to  petition  for  a  committee  of  inquiry 
upon  the  subject  ;  and  so  important  was  it,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Assembly,  that  the  governor,  deputy  governor,  and 
John  Clarke,  were  appointed  to  visit  the  island  to  see  if 
a  harbor  could  be  made  there,  and  what  encourao-ement 
could  thus  be  given  to  the  fisheries.  This  was  the  first 
movement  in  a  matter  that  has  ever  since   occuj)ied,  at 

'  She  escaped  from  prison  and  was  gone  two  years.  Upon  ker  return  to 
the  colony  in  May  1667,  she  was  arrested  and  petitioned  the  Court  for  miti- 
gation of  sentence.  The  fine  and  one-half  of  the  corporal  punishment  was 
remitted,  and  the  remainder,  fifteen  stripes  to  be  inflicted  at  Newport,  was  ex- 
ecuted. 

VOL.  I. — 21      . 


322  HISTORY    OF    THF,    STATK   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

various  times,  the  public  attention,  and  which  has  re 
cently  assumed  its  propei  form  as  a   national  measure 
more  important  to  American  commerce  than  to  the  hardy 
islanders  themselves. 

The  Warwick  men  had  presented  to  the  commissioners, 
upon  their  first  coming  to  Rhode  Island,  a  petition  set- 
ting forth  the  grievances  they  had  suffered  from  Massachu- 
setts, and  asking  redress.  They  had  in  vain  sought  jus- 
tice from  their  oppressors,  by  letters  and  remonstrance, 
before  aj)pealing  to  the  king,'  and  had  once  voluntarily 
informed  the  United  Colonies  of  their  intention  to  appeal, 
so  that  they  might  prepare  their  answer  to  the  crown."^ 
Attention  to  their  case  was  within  the  scope  of  the  royal 
commission.  It  was  jiresented  in  proper  season,  and  laid 
before  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  for  them  to  answer. 
This  they  did  at  the  session  of  the  General  Court,  in  a 
80.  very  lengthy,  abusive,  and  rambling  document,  made  up 
of  theological  discussion,  personal  invective,  and  positive 
misstatements,  wherein  they  profess  "  to  compare  the 
petition,  first,  with  its  authors,  second,  with  their  princi- 
ples, and  third,  with  the  whole  transaction,"  and  which 
they  style  "  an  apologetical  reply."  ^ 

The  commission  itself  was  very  distasteful  to  Massa- 
chusetts. They  regarded  it,  justly,  as  an  interference 
by  the  crown  with  their  self-assumed  prerogative  to  con- 
trol New  England,  and  they  dreaded  that  any  -such  power 
should  come  among  them.  The  proceedings  of  the  com- 
missioners were  bitterly  denounced  by  the  General  Court. 
Among  the  alleged  wrongs  committed  by  them,  "  the 
great  countenance  given  to  the  Rhode  Islanders,"  and 
their  "  calling,  in  their  public  declarations,  the  United 
Colonies  '  that  usurped  authority,'  "  occupy  a  conspicuous 

'  One  of  these  letters  dated  August  2'2d,  1G61,  is  printed  in  R.  I.  H.  C, 
ii.  224-31. 

^  Sept.  1,  1G51.     R.  I.  H.  C,  ii.  217-19. 

*  The  petition  nnd  answer  are  given  in  full  in  M.  C.  R.,  vol.  iv.  Part  ii. 
p.  253-65,  and  in  R.  I.  H.  C,  ii.  231-45. 


VT 


MASSACHUSETTS   AND   THE    ROYAL    COMMISSIOKEES.  323 

place.     The  temper  of  the  Court  may  be  gathered  from  a  chap 
letter  to  the  author  of  the  petition,  by  one  of  the  com-  ._,^ 
missioners,  while  the  subject  was  under  discussion  in  that  16  6  5 
body/     The  controversy  was  again  transferred  to  Eng- 
land.    The   General  Court,  fearing  the  effect   of  such  a 
report    as    the    commissioners    must    necessarily   make,     ^^^g^ 
adopted  an  address  to  the  King,  sufficiently  humble  in  its       1- 
terms,  but  peevish  in    its  spirit,   complaining  that   the 
commissioners  had  violated  the  royal  instructions  by  frus- 
trating the  objects  for  which  they  were  sent.     Deprecat- 
ing   the    misrepresentations    that    these    commissioners 
would  probably  make  with  regard  to  Massachusetts,  the 
address  vaunts  the  superiority  of  its  authors  by  denounc- 
ing most  of  those  who  complain  against  them,  "  as  In- 
dians, Quakers,  libertines  and  malefactors."     It  concludes 
with  a  display  of  piety  and  loyalty  as  repulsive,  in  this 
connection,  as  it  was  unfounded."^ 

Most  of  the  towns  being  still  in  arrears  for  the  debt     Oct. 
due  to  John  Clarke,  the  General  Assembly  renewed  the      ^^' 
order  to  collect  the  tax,  and  notified  the  delinquent  towns 
to  that  effect. 

The  commissioners,  having  completed  their  examina-  ^^ 
tion  of  all  the  New  England  colonies,  seven  in  num]>er,  sent 
home  a  long  report,  giving  a  sketch  of  the  history  and  ac- 
tual condition  of  each  one.  That  concerning  Massachu- 
setts is  the  longest  and  expresses  the  most  dissatisfaction. 
It  was  the  last  colony  visited,  as  the  commissioners  vainly 
hoped  that  the  condescension  of  the  other  colonies  might 

^  "  Mr.  Gorton.  These  gentlemen  of  Boston  would  make  us  believe  tbat 
they  verily  think  that  the  King  has  given  them  so  much  power  in  their  char- 
ter to  do  unjustly,  that  he  reserved  none  for  himself,  to  call  them  to  an  ac- 
count for  doing  so.  In  short  they  refuse  to  let  us  hear  complaints  against 
them,  so  that,  at  present,  we  can  do  nothing  in  your  hehalf.  But  I  hope 
shortly  to  go  for  England,  where,  if  God  bless  me  thither,  I  shall  truly  rep- 
resent your  suflFerings  and  your  loj'alty.  Your  assured  friend,  George  Cart- 
wright.  Boston,  2()th  May,  1665."  R.  I.  H.  C,  ii.  246.  The  government 
copy  is  in  British  S.  P.  0.  New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  3. 

"  M.  C.  R.,  vol.  iv.  Part  ii.  p.  274-5. 


324  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  tend  to  diminish  the  refractory  spirit  there  shown  ;  but 
.^;,,J^  they  could  not  obtain  a  hearing  even  upon  some  cases 
16  65.  specified  in  the  royal  letter,  to  be  determined  by  them.' 
The  substance  of  the  report  on  Rhode  Island  may  be 
gathered  from  what  has  before  been  written.  Of  the 
Narraganset  Bay,  it  says,  "it  is  the  largest  and  safest 
port  in  New  England,  nearest  the  sea,  -and  fittest  for 
trade."  A  very  remarkable  point  in  this  report  is  the  al- 
lusion to  what  is  probably  the  earliest  known  temperance 
petition,  that  of  Pessicus,  Sachem  of  the  Narragansets, 
desiring  "  the  commissioners  to  pray  King  Charles  that 
no  strong  liquors  might  be  brought  into  that  countiy,  for 
he  had  thirty-two  men  that  dyed  by  drinking  of  it."  This 
and  all  the  other  original  papers  referred  to,  were  un- 
fortunately lost,  the  ship  in  which  Col.  Cartwright  sailed 
for  England  having  been  captured  by  the  Dutch. 

Although  the  labors  of  the  commissioners  were  now 
apparently  ended,   some  of  their  decrees  remained  un- 
noticed, and  required  further  attention,     Pumham  still 
lingered  in   the  sylvan  retreat  of  Warwick  Neck.     Sir 
Robert   Carr  held  a  conference  with   Cheesechamut,  son 
28.      of  the  old  Sachem,  at  Smith's  trading  house,  that  resulted 
in  an  agreement  to  remove  at  once  beyond  the  bounds  of 
Kings  Province,  upon  receiving  the  ten  pounds  that  Pes- 
sicus was  to  have,  and  ten  pounds  more  from  the  peojile  of 
100.1-6.   Warwick.     He  acknowledged  receipt  of  thirty  pounds,  be- 
ing ten  pounds  more  than  was  formerly  promised,  and  six 
days  later  the  additional  ten  pounds  was  paid  into  the 
9.       hands  of  Pundiam.     John  Eliot,  the  Indian  apostle,  im- 
mediately wrote  to  Sir  Robert  Carr,  interceding  in  behalf 

of  Pumliam,  but  without  effect.     Sir  Robert,  after  waiting 
Feb-  • 

24 '     nearly  a  month,  sent  a  peremptory  order  for  the  Indians  to 


J.iii 
3 


move  within  one  week,  and  also   replied  to  Eliot,  rather 
28-      sharply,  for  what  he  justly  considered  an  ill-timed  although 

'  The  entire    report  is  in  S.  P.  0.  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  248-58.     The 
Report  on  Rhode  Island  is  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  127-9. 


REMOVAL    OF    PUMHAM.  325 

well  intended,  interference  on  the  part  of  the  missionary,  chap. 

•  TIC 

for  whose  satisfaction  he  graciously  forwarded  copies  of  the  v,_^'^ 
transactions  in  regard  to  Pumham.  Roger  Williams  also  10  6  6. 
wrote  to  Carr  upon  the  same  subject,  giving  the  history  i 
of  the  dispute,  and  wisely  advising  him  that  force  could 
effect  nothing  permanent  against  Pumham,  until  the 
commissioners  had  first  reduced  Massachusetts  to  obedi- 
ence to  his  majesty,  because  these  Indians  were  sustained 
by  Massachusetts  in  their  resistance.  He  concludes  by 
suggesting  that  they  be  allowed  to  remain  until  harvest, 
that  thus,  through  his  mediation,  a  peaceable  adjustment 
may  be  reached.  Sir  Eobert  sent  for  Mr.  Williams,  and, 
satisfying  him  of  the  proceedings,  obtained  his  active  as- 
sistance in  the  iaa mediate  removal  of  Pumham,  Thus 
this  "  old  ulcerous  business  "  was  finally  concluded,  to  the 
great  relief  of  the  people  of  the  colony,  who,  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  had  been  harassed  by  the  intrigues  of  their 
neighbors  with  these  turbulent  natives.' 

The  delay  of  the  towns,  in  paying  Dr.  Clarke,  called 
forth  a  severe  letter  from  Roger  WilHams,  addressed  to 
Warwick,  as  the  greatest  dehnquent,  which  gave  deep  of- 
fence. It  was  received  on  a  training  day,  and  was  read  at  ^g 
the  head  of  the  company  ;  not  an  unusual  mode  of  publi- 
cation in  those  times,  for  even  the  banns  of  marriage  were 
by  law  proclaimed  in  the  same  manner.  The  action  of 
the  town  is  worthy  of  note.  It  was  at  once  emphatic,  and 
under  the  circumstances,  feeling  as  they  did  insulted  by 
the  tenor  of  the  missive,  it  was  perhaps  the  most  digni- 
fied course  they  could  adopt.  They  "  voted  that  the  said 
letter  is  a  pernicious  letter,  tending  to  stir  up  strife  in  the 
town,  and  that  the  town  clerk  record  this  vote  and  send  a 
copy  of  it  to  Mr.  Williams,  as  the  town's  answer  to  the 

'  The  orders  and  letters  here  referred  to,  relating  to  Pumham,  are  printed 
in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  ii.  132-8.  The  diligence  of  Secretary  Bartlett  in  collect- 
ing the  documents  that  go  to  make  up  a  continuous  history  of  the  State,  and 
inserting  them  between  the  bare  records  of  the  Assembly's  proceedings,  is 
worthy  of  all  commendation. 


27 


326  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  said  letter,  no  man  dissenting,"     It  should  be  remembered 
sj:^^  that  Warwick  had,  at  the    time,  protested    agajnst  her 
16  6  6.  proportion  of  the  tax,  giving  some  cogent  reasons  for  hei 
'  '"*^ '  dissent  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Williams's  letter  was  not 
so  mild  in  its  language  as  so  delicate  a  subject  required. 
But  tliat  the  colony  agreed  with  his  view  of  the  case  ap- 
pears from  the  action  of  the  Assembly  that  met  the  next 
day.     The  Warwick  protest  was  considered,  and  it  was 
ordered  "  that  a  letter  shall  be  sent  to  them   from   the 
Court  to  provocke  and  stirr  them  up   to   pay  the  rate 
29.     spedilye,"  and  a  similar  letter  was  prepared  to  be  sent  to 
Providence. 

The  form  of  the  engagements  to  be  taken  by  freemen 
and  officers  was  a  frequent  matter  of  legislation.  So  great 
was  the  variety  of  opinion,  and  the  latitude  given  to  ten- 
der consciences  in  the  colony,  that  it  was  a  work  of  time 
to  devise  some  form  of  words  that  should  not  be  objection- 
able to  any.  Verbal  alterations  and  slight  modifications 
were  made  at  different  sessions,  some  of  which,  in  our  less 
scrupulous  times,  appear  puerile.  At  this  session  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  the  Governor  and  Nicolas  Easton,  the 
latter  })eing  a  Quaker,  reported  upon  the  subject  of  the 
freemen's  engagement,  recommending  either  the  form  al- 
ready prescribed  by  the  Assembly,  or  the  oath  of  allegiance 
as  required  in  England,  or  if  objections  to  either  of  these 
forms  existed,  the  party  might  adopt  any  equivalent  words 
satisfactory  to  the  Court.' 

An  important  subject  brought  to  the  notice  of  previous 

'  The  officers'  engagement  was  adopted  May  1661,  altered  May  1665, 
amended  May  1667.  See  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  57,  97,  187.  That  for  the  free- 
men was  adopted  May  1665,  modified  March  1666,  pp.  112,  141-2,  and  gave 
rise  to  the  slander  circulated  by  Brinlcy  in  1  M.  H.  C,  v.  219,  and  tr.ansmit- 
ted  by  Holmes,  Annals.  1,  .341,  that  the  Quakers  were  outlawed  by  Rhode 
Island  in  1665.  This  has  been  sufficiently  refuted  by  Judge  Eddy  in  2  M.  H. 
C,  vii.  97 ;  by  Knowles'  Memoir  of  Roger  Williams,  324,  and  cursorily  by 
Bancroft  U.  S.,  ii.  67.  In  fact  at  that  time  there  were  two  Quakers,  if  not 
more,  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  one  of  them  was  the  next  year,  1666, 
choBeu  Deputy  Governor. 


MODE    OF    ADMITTING    FREEMEN,  327 

Assemblies  by  petition  from  Warwick  and  Portsmouth/   chap. 
was  now  acted  upon.     This  was  that  the  deputies  might  ,^_,_^ 
sit  apart  from  the  magistrates  as  a  separate  House,  thus  16  6  6 
creating  two  Houses  of  Assembly,  with  equal  powers,  acting 
as  a  check  upon  each  other.     The  rule  was  adopted,  to 
take  effect  in  May,  when  the  details  of  the  change  were  to 
be  settled.     This  act  was  soon  afterwards  repealed,  and  the 
measure  was  not  adopted   till   thirty   years   later.     The    April 
King  having  received  from  the  commissioners  an  account 
of  their  proceedings  in  New  England,  wrote  to  the  colony, 
expressing  his  a^jprobation  of  its  conduct,  and  promising 
liis  continued  favor  and  protection. ^ 

At  the  general  election  Governor  Arnold  retired  from 
office.  He  had  served  for  three  years,  since  the  adoption  ^fy 
of  the  new  charter,  and  had  been  for  four  years  president 
of  the  colony  under  the  first  patent.  William  Brenton, 
who  had  been  deputy  governor  for  the  past  three  years, 
was  chosen  governor,  and  Nicolas  Easton  was  elected  to 
fill  that  place.  The  same  general  officers  were  re-elected 
except  Torrey,  general  recorder,  who  gave  place  to  John 
Sandford,  but  there  was  a  great  change  in  the  list  of  As- 
sistants, only  three  of  the  former  ones  being  retained.  It 
was  the  practice  to  admit  as  freemen  those  whose  names 
were  sent  in  for  that  purpose  by  the  clerks  of  the  respec- 
tive towns,  as  well  as  those  who  personally  appeared  before 
the  Assembly,  being  duly  qualified.  A  large  number  were 
thus  admitted  from  all  the  towns  at  the  opening  of  this 
session.  It  was  also  allowed  to  the  former  Assistants,  by 
law,  to  sit  as  deputies  in  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  full  delegation,  a  contingency  which  now  actually 
occurred,  so  that  several  of  the  old  Assistants  were  sent  for 
to  aid  the  Court.  William  Blackstone  petitioned  for  re- 
lief from  molestation  by  Plymouth  in  regard  to  his  lands. 

'  See  Warwick  Records,  Oct.  8,  1664,  and  Portsmouth  Records  Feb.  21, 
1664-5. 

*  The  letter  is  iu  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  149.  \ 


328  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    EHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  The  petition  was  recorded,  and  answer  returned  that,  if  his 
.Js^  land  proved  to  he  within  this  jurisdiction,  justice. should 
1  6  (i  0.  be  secured  to  him.  The  Assemhly,  or  Court  as  it  was 
commonly  termed,  could  not  proceed  to  legislation  owing 
to  the  absence  of  deputies,  and  after  waiting  two  days  for 
4  their  appearance,  adjourned-  till  June,  but  for  some  cause 
no  session  was  held  till  September.  At  -that  time,  the 
^^V^'  capture  of  Col.  Cartwright  by  the  Dutch,  with  the  loss  of 
•  all  his  papers,  having  been  known,  a  new  address  to  the 
King,  and  letters  to  Lord  Clarendon  were  ordered.  ]\laps 
of  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  Khode  Island  were  prepared 
to  accompany  this  address,  in  order  to  show  their  respec- 
tive boundaries,  which  it  was  prayed  might  be  confirmed  ac- 
cording to  the  charter.  The  letter  to  Lord  Clarendon  ex- 
presses regret  that  no  adequate  return  can  be  made  by 
the  colony  for  the  many  favors  he  has  conferred  upon  it, 
but  states  that  the  colony  had  designed  to  set  apart  a 
tract  of  one  thousand  acres,  suitable  for  a  farm,  and  to  beg 
his  acceptance  thereof.  The  present  wants  of  the  colony, 
for  which  they  petition,  are,  that  Narraganset  bay  should 
be  fortified,  that  such  commercial  privileges  be  extended 
as  may  develope  the  resources  of  the  place,  and  that  a 
portion  of  the  fund  for  propagating  the  gospel  among  the 
Indians  may  be  applied  to  establish  a  school  for  the  Nar- 
ragansets.  Enclosed  in  this  letter  was  a  paper  setting 
forth  seven  reasons  why  the  Kings  Province  should  remain 
a  part  of  Rhode  Island,  and  another  paper  presenting  also 
seven  arguments  why  the  eastern  line  of  the  colony  should 
be  made  to  conform  to  the  terms  of  the  charter. 

The  difficulty  experienced  of  late,  owing  to  the  non- 
attendance  of  deputies,  who  hitherto  had  served  without 
pay,  caused  the  passage  of  an  act  to  pay  all  the  members 
of  Assembly,  and  of  the  Courts,  three  shillings  a  day,  while 
employed  on  these  duties.  The  per  diem  of  the  Assembly- 
men was  not  paid  in  cash,  but  their  accounts,  certified  by 
the  Moderator,  were  to  be  allowed  in  ofiset  of  taxes  levied 


A    SPECIAL     TAX   TO   PAY    DR.    CLA.RKE.  329 

in  their  respective  towns.     The  Court  fees  were  paid  in  chap. 

cash,  upon  orders,  signed  by  the  governor,  to  the  public  ;,J^ 

treasurer.  In  case  of  absence  a  fine  of  six  shillings  a  day  16  6  6. 
was  imposed.  If  the  general  sergeant,  or  any  town,  failed 
to  give  due  attention  to  the  summons  of  the  governor 
calling  an  Assembly  or  a  Court  of  Trials,  a  fine  of  five 
pounds  was  imposed  upon  the  delinquent  party.  To  hold 
a  colony  court  of  trial,  the  presence  of  the  governor,  or  his 
deputy,  and  of  four  Assistants  was  required,  and  should 
that  number  not  be  present,  every  absentee  was  subjected 
to  a  similar  fine  of  five  pounds.  Whoever  should  attempt 
to  vote  at  any  election,  not  being  a  freeman  of  the  colony, 
was  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  pounds,  or  to  be  otherwise  punish- 
ed as  the  General  Assembly  might  see  fit ;  and  no  one 
was  to  be  admitted  a  freeman  upon  election  day. 

The  delay  in  paying  the  debt  due  to  Dr.  Clarke  was 
likely  to  involve  him  in  serious  trouble.  His  house  was 
mortgaged  to  Eichard  Dean  for  one  hundred  and  forty 
pounds,  advanced  some  years  before  in  London,  on  account 
of  the  colony.  The  time  for  payment  had  long  passed,  and 
a  foreclosure  was  threatened.  The  Assembly  now  assumed 
the  debt.  A  special  committee  of  eleven  men  was  ap- 
pointed, with  extraordinary  powers,  to  collect  the  arrears 
of  the  six  hundred  pound  tax  levied  for  this  object  two 
years  before.  The  town  sergeant  and  constables  of  every 
town  and  village  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  com- 
mittee, at  whose  order  they  were  to  assemble  the  people, 
and  to  levy  by  distraint,  if  required  to  do  so.  William 
Harris  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this  committee,  who,  with 
any  other  four  of  the  number,  were  to  act  at  their  discre- 
tion and  to  report,  the  ensuing  month,  to  the  Assembly. 
They  were  unable  fully  to  accomplish  the  object  in  so  short 
a  time,  and  were  continued  at  the  next  session  ;  and,  be-  ^^'• 
cause  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  exchange  on  England, 
they  were  empowered  to  send  an  adventure  to  Barbadoes, 
or  elsewhere,  at  the  risk  of  the  delinquent  parties.     Power 


330  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,  was  also  given  them  to  collect  arrears  due  upon  other  rates 
laid  by  the  colony,  prior  to  the  one  for  Dr.  Clarke. 

John  Clarke  was  appointed  to  make  a  digest  of  the 
laws,  "  leaving  out  what  may  he  superfluous,  and  adding 
what  may  appear  unto  him  necessary,"  and  a  cornmittee 
of  three  was  named,  to  examine  the  work  when  done,  and 
to  report  at  a  future  Assembly. 

16  67.         The  next  year  there  were  verv  few  changes  made  at 
May  .  "  . 

1  ■  the  general  election.  Charges  were  brought  against  Wil- 
liam Harris,  one  of  the  Assistants  from  Providence,  for  ex- 
ceeding his  powers  as  an  officer.  The  specific  allegations 
are  not  given.  The  engagement  was  administered  to  him 
notwithstanding  a  motion  for  delay.  This  caused  a  pro- 
test to  be  entered  upon  the  records  by  those  who  thought 
that  the  charges  should  be  examined  before  he  was  quali- 
fied as  a  magistrate. 

England  was  now  at  war  with  France  and  Holland. 
Symptoms  of  disafiection  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  were 
manifested.  Invasion  on  one  hand  and  treachery  on  the 
other  threatened  the  feeble  colony.  Prompt  measures 
were  taken  for  defence.  In  each  town  a  council  of  war 
was  organized,  consisting  of  the  town  council  with  the  cap- 
tain and  lieutenant  of  the  train  band.  These  were  re- 
quired to  provide  ammunition  to  the  value  of  fifty  pounds 
for  Newport  and  of  twenty  pounds  for  every  other  town. 
Commissions  were  issued  by  the  Assembly  to  the  military 
officers,  who  were  required  to  be  freemen  of  the  colony. 
Cannon  were  mounted  at  Newport,  and  cavalry  corps  were 
formed  in  all  the  towns.  The  governor  and  council  held 
frequent  meetings  between  the  sessions  of  Assembly. 
Their  acts  were  equally  binding  with  those  of  the  latter 
body.  The  council  empowered  any  magistrate  to  require 
assistance  in  case  of  need,  and  to  impress  men  or  appro- 
priate property  to  the  public  service,  being  responsible  only 
to  the  General  Council.  The  Indians  upon  the  island  were 
disarmed,  and  the  mainland  towns  were  advised  to  adopt 


18. 


PREPARATIONS    AGAINST    THE    INDIANS.  331 

the  same  measure.     A  few  days  later  all  male  Indians,   chap. 

IX 

over  sixteen  years  of  age,  were  sent  off  the  island,  and  no 
Englishman,  above  that  age,  was  permitted  to  leave  with- 
out a  passport,  or  to  go  on  board  of  any  vessel  that  might 
ai)proach  the  island,  until  her  captain  had  reported  him- 
self to  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  town.  All  ammunition  ^'^' 
in  private  hands  was  required  to  be  given  up  for  the  pub- 
lic use.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  and  re- 
pair all  arms  belonging  to  the  citizens.  A  special  tax  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  was  levied  in  Newport  for 
defence.  Letters  having  been  received  from  Plymouth 
concerning  a  suspected  consj^iracy  by  King  Philip,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  treat  with  the  Narraganset  Sa-  21. 
chems  on  the  subject,  and  a  letter  was  sent  to  them  re- 
quiring their  presence  on  a  certain  day  at  Warwick.  The 
Assembly  confirmed  the  acts  of  the  council,  and  established 
a  series  of  beacons,  where  signal  fires  shoukl  be  lighted  in 
case  of  attack,  to  spread  the  alarm  without  delay  over  all 
the  colony.  The  principal  beacon  was  on  Wonemyton- 
omi  hill,  whence  the  alarm  could  be  spread  along  the  whole 
coast  by  bale-fires  on  the  rocks  at  Sachuest,  at  Pettaquam- 
scot,  and  on  Watch  hill,  and  northward  on  Windmill  hill, 
the  highest  point  of  the  island,  and  thence  to  Moosha-usuck, 
now  Prospect  hill,  in  ProWdence  ;  and  a  general  system 
of  defence  was  adopted  for  all  the  islands  and  exposed  set- 
tlements in  the  colony  and  in  Kings  Province.  These 
were  the  preliminary  steps  taken  in  view  of  a  crisis  which 
proved  to  be  still  quite  remote. 

Internal  dissensions  supplied  the  excitement  that  hos-    j^ng 
tile  demonstrations  failed  to  bring.     At  the  annual  town       3. 
meeting  in  Providence  two  sets  of  town  oflScers  were  elected, 
and  two  sets  of  delegates  chosen  to  the  Assembly,  at  two 
separate  meetings  caUed  by  the  Assistants  resident  in  the 
town,  at  the  same  time  and  place  ;  one  by  Arthur  Fenner 
the  other  by  William  Harris  in  concert  with  William  Car- 
penter, another  Assistant.     It  was  the  duty  of  one  of  the 


332  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Assistants  to  call  town  meetings,  but  of  which  one,  in  this 
,^,;^J^  case,  does  not  appear,  nor  is  it  known  why  two  calls  were 
1  ^^  <>  "•  issued  ;  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  owing  to  a  sharp  contro- 
versy then  existing  upon  local  questions  relating  to  the 
town  limits.  The  result  was  unfortunate  in  cre^-ting  a 
bitter  feeling  that  it  required  many  years  to  assuage.  A 
narrative  of  the  affair,  entitled  "  The  Firebrand  Discov- 
ered" was  drawn  up,  by  vote  of  the  town,  and  sent  to  the 
,  other  three  towns.  This  presents  the  view  of  the  Fenner 
faction.  The  other  side  entered  a  complaint  to  the  Gov- 
ernor against  Fenner,  which  led  to  a  special  session  of  the 
j„]y  Assembly  at  which  both  sets  of  deputies  appeared.  The 
2-  seats  were  awarded  to  the  Fenner  party.  The  complaint 
of  Harris  against  Fenner,  charging  the  latter  with  '•  acting 
in  a  route  "  upon  town  meeting  day,  was  then  examined, 
and  Fenner  with  his  deputies  were  acquitted.  The  town 
officers  elected  by  the  Fenner  meeting  were  pronounced 
to  be  the  legally  chosen  ofl&cers  for  the  year.  A  letter 
was  sent  to  Providence  stating  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
with  the  reasons  thereof.  Harris  having  upon  insufficient 
grounds  caused  this  session  to  be  held,  expressly  for  the 
trial  of  Fenner,  was  fined  fifty  pounds,  and  for  other  more 
serious  reasons  was  expelled  from  the  office  of  Assistant, 
two  of  his  colleagues  protesting,  and  another  was  chosen 
in  his  place.  The  fine  was  remitted  the  next  year  by 
advice  of  Col.  Nichols,  governor  of  New  York,  to  whom 
Harris  had  complained.  To  prevent  similar  vexatious 
suits  in  future,  an  act  was  passed  that  no  Assistant  should 
indict  any  person,  for  matters  pertaining  to  another's  in- 
terest, without  the  sworn  evidence  of  two  witnesses  imder 
the  hand  of  another  Assistant,  whose  names  should  be  en- 
dorsed on  the  bill  of  indictment. 

Tlie  first  troop  of  horse  organized  in  Rhode  Island  re- 
10^     ported  for  duty  at  Newport  in  August,  and  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  governor  and  council.     It  numbered  twenty- 


WESTERLY   RETALIATES    UPON    STONINGTON.  333 

one  men  well  mounted  and  equipped.'     The  Assembly  con-  chap. 

tinued  to  the  towns,  till  farther  notice,  the  full  military  ^,J^ 

powers  before  conferred  on  them.     The  strife  about  the  1  "^  6  7. 

.  .         Oct. 

Narraganset  country  still  continued.     The  mode  in  which      30 ' 

Rhode  Island  had  run  her  western  line,  beyond  the  Paw- 
catuck  river,  caused  great  dissatisfaction,  and  many  depo- 
sitions on  that  subject  were  given  by  the  people  of  South- 
ertown,  or  Stonington  as  it  was  now  called."^  Hermon  Gar- 
ret, the  English  name  of  Wequashcooke,  who  had  been 
made  chief  of  the  Pequots  by  the  United  Colonies,  renewed 
the  complaints  formerly  made  by  the  Indians  against  the 
Westerly  settlers,  who  had  driven  them  across  the  river, 
and  sought  relief  from  Connecticut.  The  deputies  from 
Stonington  also  complained  of  intrusions  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river,  committed  by  John  Crandall,  who  had  laid 
out  a  mile  square  of  land  for  his  son  within  the  limits  of 
their  town.^  These  acts  on  the  part  of  Rhode  Island  were 
unjustifiable.  They  proceeded  no  doubt  from  a  spirit  of 
retaliation  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had  formerly  suffered 
so  much  from  the  men  of  Southertown.  The  Assembly  at 
Hartford  ordered  notice  of  tliese  encroachments  to  be  given  10. 
to  Rhode  Island  with  a  request  that  they  be  discontinued, 
and  should  this  not  suffice  then  the  constable  was  required 
to  arrest  the  intruders.  A  letter  to  this  effect  was  sent  to  17. 
Governor  Brenton. 

Massachusetts,  although  her  claims  had  been  super- 
seded by  those  of  Connecticut,  and  her  right  to  interfere, 
even  with  the  Indians  had  been  denied  by  the  royal  com- 
missioners, embraced    an    opportunity    presented  by  the 

'  Their  names,  from  the  Council  records,  are  given  in  R.  I.  C)l.  Rec,  ii. 
218. 

-  Southertown  was  incorporated  hy  Massachusetts  Oct.  19th,  1658.  The 
name  was  changed  to  Mistick  by  the  Connecticut  Assembly  Oct.  12th,  1605, 
and  then  to  Stonington,  and  bounded  by  the  Pawcatuck  river,  May  10th, 
1666.     Conn.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  26,  36. 

^  Garret's  petition  was  dated  May  6th,  that  of  the  deputies  was  presented 
Oct.  10th      Conn.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  80. 


334  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.    Nipmucks,  who  acknowledged  her  supremacy,  to  impose 
^■^  terms  on  the  Narragansets.     The  Nipmucks  petitioned 
i  6  tj  7.  for  redress  for  spoliations  committed  by  the  Narragansets. 
31  ■     The  General  Court  took  up  the  matter,  as  of  right,  and 
settled  the  difficulty.     It  was  a  measure  of  peace  and 
therefore    commendable,  but  it  does  not  admit  of  rigid 
serutiny  into  the  claim  of  jurisdiction  over  the  Nipmuck 
country  upon  which  the  interference  was  based.'     A  corres- 
,    pondence  was  carried  on  between  various  parties  in  Khode 
^^'''-    Island,  and  Col.  Nichols,  Governor  of  New  York,  as  the 
head  of  the  late  royal  commission.     His  rej^lies  were  made 
in  a  private  capacity,  his  power  as  a  commissioner  having, 
in  his  opinion,  ceased. 
16  68.         An  urgent    petition  was  presented  by  the    town  of 
4*^      Stonington   to  the  Assembly  at    Hartford  for  protection 
against  Rhode  Island,'-  and  on  the  same  day  the  people  of 
Wickford  also  petitioned  to  be  again  received  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut. 
Q  The  general  election  made  but  Uttle  change  in  the  of- 

ficers, and  is  only  remarkable  for  the  triumph  of  the  Har- 
ris party  ;  William  Harris,  notwithstanding  his  expulsion, 
being;  ay;ain  chosen  an  Assistant,  and  the  other  two  As- 
sistants  from  Providence  being  of  his  fection,  while  Fenner 
himself  was  dropped.  This  is  the  more  singular  as  there 
is  evidence  that  Harris  at  this  time  had,  or  was  about  to, 
become  the  agent  of  Connecticut  in  prosecuting  her  claim 
against  Rhode  Island.  A  very  long  document  from  his 
pen  is  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Connecticut,  arguing 
against  the  Assembly's  apportionment  of  the  taxes  for  the 
])aymc'nt  of  Dr.  Clarke,  (jn  the  supposed  ground  of  tlie 
rightful  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  in  the  Narraganset 
country.^  But  the  governor  refused  to  administer  the 
engagement  until  Harris  should  clear  himself  from  an  in- 

'  M.  C.  R.,  vol.  iv.  Part  ii.  p.  357-9. 
''  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  530. 

»  This   was  filed  Oct.  1666.     A  copy  is  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc,  MSS.  vol.  of 
Conn,  papers,  p.  49-67. 


Ausr. 


CONFLICTING    CLAIMS    TO    NARKAGANSET.  335 

dictment  brought  against  him  for  charging  the  Court  of  chap. 
Trials  with  injustice.  The  deputy  Governor  was  loss 
scrui3ulous  ;  by  him  Harris  was  duly  qualified,  and  a  cer- 
tificate sent  as  usual  to  the  towns.  The  town  of  Warwick 
protested  against  this  act  as  being  irregular,  and  refused 
to  acknowledge  him  as  a  legal  officer.'  The  town  of  Prov- 
idence sent  a  bitter  remonstrance  to  the  Governor  and 
council  against  the  election  of  Harris  and  his  colleagues, 
but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it.^ 

Connecticut  apj^ointed  agents  to  treat  with  Ehode 
Island  upon  the  foregoing  complaints,  who  were  instruct- 
ed to  require  the  withdrawal  of  intruders,  to  assert  the 
jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  according  to  her  charter,  and 
to  demand  a  written  reply.  These  j)ropositions  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  council  at  Newport,  who  replied  to  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop,  referring  to  the  decision  of  the  Royal 
Commissioners,  and  to  the  Pawcatuck  Eiver  clause  in  20? 
the  charter,  but  saying  that  if  any  violations  of  those 
terms  had  been  committed,  justice  would  be  rendered 
upon  due  course  of  law. 

Massachusetts  again  interfered  in  the  affairs  of  Narra-  gert. 
ganser,  by  sending  messengers  to  request  the  sachems  to  4- 
appear  at  the  General  Court  to  answer  comj)laints  made 
against  them  by  the  Narraganset  purchasers.  The  Wick- 
ford  men  renewed  their  petition  of  May,  to  have  the  gov- 
ernment of  Connecticut  extended  over  them.  The  Hartford 
assemljly  desired  advice  from  Col.  Nichols  on  this  matter. 
They  also  notified  Rhode  Island  to  send  commissioners  to 
meet  a  committee  aj^pointed  by  them  to  adjust  difier- 
ences  at  New  London.^  This  notice  was  not  received  till 
after  the  Assembly  had  adjourned,  and  hence  could  not  be 
acted  upon  before  the  next  spring.     The  Wickford  peti- 

'  See  Warwick  record.^,  June  1,  1668. 

^  li  is  dated  31st  Augnst,  1668,  and  is  found  in  Staples'  Annals,  147-50. 
»  Conn.   Col.   Rec..,  ii.  102,   103,  5.32— also  R.  L  Col.  Eec,  ii.  225-30, 
where  most  of  the  foregoing  papers  are  printed. 


Oct. 


336  HISTORY    or    the    state    of    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  tion  was  referred  to  England,  and  Mr.  Willys,  and  Robert 
_.;^  Thompson  of  London,  were  appointed  to  present  the  sub- 
lfi'58.  ject  for  the  decision  of  his  Majesty,  but  nothing  decisive 
was  effected, 
29.  The    General   Assembly   remitted    the    fine^of  fifty 

pounds  imposed  upon  William  Harris  the  previous  year. 
Upon  William  Blackstone's  petition,  John  Clarke  was  re- 
quested to  write  to  Plymouth,  warning  that  colony  not  to 
molest  him  in  the  quiet  possession  of  his  lands.  A  large 
number  of  freemen  were  admitted.  The  Assembly  ad- 
journed until  March,  to  give  place  to  the  Court  of  Trials, 
)fi(i«(-9.  Up  to  this  time,  it  was  usual  for  any  party  who  was 
^^  indicted  to  plead  his  own  cause  before  the  courts,  but  as 
this  required  more  wisdom,  or  knowledge  of  the  law,  than 
every  man  possessed,  the  Assembly  now  enacted  tliat  any 
person  who  was  indicted  might  employ  an  attorney  to 
plead  in  his  behalf,  a,nd  further,  that  a  pending  indict- 
ment should  not  prevent  any  general  officer,  fiiirly  elected, 
from  holding  his  office  ;  but  that  he  should  nevertheless 
be  subject  to  trial.  This  statute  seems  to  be  intended  to 
meet  the  objections  brought  against  William  Harris  by 
the  town  of  Warwick.  A  sharp  controversy  existed  be- 
tween that  town  and  the  Assistants  of  Newport,  who  sus- 
tained Harris  in  the  vigorous  measures  he  had  adopted, 
as  chief  of  the  connnittee  for  collecting  the  fiimous  tax  of 
25.  six  hundred  pounds,  levied  in  1664.  At  a  tcAvn  meeting, 
held  to  hear  a  letter  from  the  Newport  Assistants  on  this 
subject,  action  was  taken  that  deserves  a  place  among  the 
curiosities  of  legislation.' 

'  "Voted:  Upon  the  reading  of  a  letter  directed  to  'Mr.  Edmund  Calrer 
ley  and  Mr.  John  Greene  and  the  rest  of  that  faction,'  &c.,  desiring  to  be 
communicated  to  the  honest  inhabitants  of  Warwick  town,  subscribed  John 
CranstwD,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  dated  the  20tli  January,  1068,  and  find- 
ing the  same  doth  not  answer  the  town's  letter  to  that  part  of  the  committee, 
&c.,  who  reside  at  Newport,  touching  the  rate;  but  is  full  of  uncivil  lan- 
guage, as  if  it  had  been  indicted  in  hell ;  Therefore  the  town  unanimously  do 
ooudcnin  the  same,  and  think  it  not  fit  to  be  put  amongst  the  records  of  the 


8. 


WESTERLY   INCORPORATED.  337 

The  General  Assembly  met  on  Tuesday,  a  recent 
law  requiring  them  to  meet  the  day  before  election,  that 
a  full  attendance  might  prevent  delay  in  the  choice  of 
officers.  Benedict  Arnold  was  again  made  governor,  and 
John  Clarke  was  chosen  deputy  governor.  There  was 
but  little  change  among  the  other  general  officers.  The 
Harris  party  again  prevailed  in  the  choice  of  the  three 
Assistants  from  Providence  ;  William  Harris  himself  be- 
ing, as  before,  one  of  the  number.  On  Saturday  they  ad- 
journed for  the  Court  of  Trials,  and  met  again  the  fol- 
lowing Friday,  when  the  letter  from  Connecticut  of  the  14, 
previous  October,  was  read,  and  a  reply  was  sent,  apologiz- 
ing for  the  delay,  and  accepting  the  proposal  to  send  com- 
missioners to  New  London.  The  letter  was  forwarded  by 
a  special  messenger,  whose  expenses,  as  also  were  those 
of  the  committee  named  in  the  letter,  were  paid  by  volun- 
tary contribution  on  the  spot.  The  sums  thus  raised 
were  to  be  deducted  from  the  amount  of  the  next  tax. 
Misquamicut,  as  it  had  heretofore  been  called,  was  now 
incorporated  as  the  fifth  town  in  the  colony,  and  named 
Westerly.     Two  deputies  were  allowed  to  it,   and    the 

town,  but  do  order  that  the  clarke  put  it  on  a  file  where  impertinent  papers 
shall  be  kept  for  the  future ;  to  the  end  that  those  persons  who  have  not 
learned  in  the  school  of  good  manners  how  to  speak  to  men  in  the  language 
of  sobriety  (if  they  be  sought  for)  may  be  there  found."  Warwick  records, 
March  25th,  1669,  (New  Year's  day,  0.  S.)  We  doubt  if  the  idea  of  an  "im- 
pertinent file  "  ever  entered  the  minds  of  any  other  people,  or  if  anywhere 
else  in  the  arrangement  of  State  Papers,  so  expressive,  yet  so  convenient,  a 
classification  was  ever  employed.  We  have  already  referred  to  one  document, 
"  the  pernitious  letter ''  of  Roger  Williams,  which  probably  served  as  the  foun- 
dation stone  for  this  remarkable  structure.  The  notion  of  keeping  a  sepa- 
rate file  for  disagreeable  communications  was  not  started  tiU  this  second  let- 
ter, "  indicted  in  hell,"  was  received.  This  was  not  the  last  of  the  kind,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  and  the  character  of  the  documents  consigned  to  this 
significant  receptacle, .seems  to  have  grown  worse  and  worse  as  the  collection 
increased.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  "  impertinent  file,"  or  as  it 
was  afterwards  termed  more  energetically,  the  "  damned  file,"  has  disappeared, 
with  many  other  of  the  records  of  this  ancient  town,  for  it  would  no  doubt 
furnish  materials  that  would  amply  justify  the  votes  of  the  townsmen. 

VOL.  I — 22 


338  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,  usual  courts  for  the  trial  of  small  causes,  were  there  or- 
..^.^^.^^^  ganized.     John  Clarke  was  desired  to  write  to  Providence 
16  6  9.  to  persuade  the  people  to  settle  the  quarrels  there  ex- 
"l4r     isting.     At  the  same  time  a  measure  was  adopted  that 
produced  a  contrary  effect  in  Warwick.     Execution  was 
granted  to  William  Harris  against  Edmund  Calverly,  and 
John  Harrod  of  Warwick,  unless  the  litigants  should  at 
once  come  to  a  mutual  agreement,  in  the  case  of  a  land 
dispute  of  long  standing  between  them,  upon  which  Har- 
ris had  recovered  judgment  in  the  courts.     Against  this 
act,  John  Greene,  Assistant,  and  the  deputies  from  War- 
wick, of  whom  Calverley  himself  was  one,  protested,  and 
desired  to  have  their  protest  entered,  but  were  refused,  al- 
though the  fee  was  tendered  for  that  purpose  to  the  re- 
corder.    The  town  took  uj)  the  matter  in  public  meeting, 
refused  to  assist  in  serving  the  execution,  and  entered  the 
protest  upon  their  records  in  full,  with  the  grounds  of 
their  action.' 
21  The  council  appointed  six  additional  justices  of  the 

peace  in  Kings  Province,  one  of  whom  was  Richard 
Smith,  the  earliest  settler  in  Narraganset,  and  who  had 
formerly  given  so  much  trouble  in  connection  with  the 
Atherton  Company.  In  the  commissions  issued  to  these 
justices,  the  bounds  of  Kings  Province  are  accurately  de- 
fined. They  embraced  all  of  the  present  State  west  of  the 
bay,  south  of  the  latitude  of  Warwick,  being  the  south 
half  of  Kent  and  the  whole  of  Washington  counties. 
Monthly  meetings  of  the  council  were  established,  but 
the  posture  of  affairs  caused  them  to  be  held  much  oftener 
July  at  this  time.  Governor  Lovelace,  who  had  succeeded 
^'  Col.  Nichols  at  New  York,  wrote  to  Rhode  Island  con- 
cerning a  i»lot  against  the  English,  supj)0sed  to  be  form- 
ing between  the  Long  Island  Indians  and  Ninecraft,  sa- 
8,  chem  of  the  Narragansets.  The  governor  and  council  of 
Connecticut  also  wrote  on  the  same  subject.     The  coun- 

'  bee  Warwick  records,  June  7tb,  1669. 


EXAMINATION   OF   NINECRAFT.  339 

cil  met  at  once,  and  sent  some  discreet  persons  to  Narra-  chap. 
ganset   to  inquire  into   these    complaints.      They  found  ..^..^,;^ 
some  emissaries  from  Philip  of  Mount  Hope  at  the  camp  16  6  9. 
of  the  sachem,   which  confirmed  their  suspicions.       On      20. 
their  return  the   Council  issued  a  warrant  to  apprehend 
Ninecraft  and  bring  him  before  them.     A  violent  storm, 
that  lasted  two  days,  preventing  the  immediate  service  of 
the  writ,  it  was   renewed,  and  a  letter  was  at  the  same 
time  written  to  Plymouth,  advising  that  colony  to  ques- 
tion King  Philip  on  the  subject.     Ninecraft  appeared  be- 
fore the  Council  and  sustained  a  long  examination.     He     28. 
declared  his   innocence  of  the  charge  of  conspiracy,  and 
explained    many    suspicious    circumstances    that    were 
brought  against  him,  but  his  answers  not  being  in  all  re- 
spects satisfactory,  he  was  dismissed  upon  his  promise  to 
appear  again  if  sent  for.     Letters  were  sent  to  Connecti- 
cut and  to  New  York,  giving  details  of  the  examination, 
and  desiring  that  any  evidence  in  their  possession  against 
Ninecraft  might  be  forwarded  in  season  for  his  next  ap- 
pearance   before    the    Council.      A  broil   between    some 
English  and  Indians  soon  occasioned  another  meeting  of      is. 
the  Council.     Summons  were  sent  to  Ninecraft  and  Maw- 
sup,  another  sachem,  to  appear  before   them.     The  Conn-      19. 
cil  recommended  the  five  towns  to  take  speedy  measures 
for  defence,  and  also  required  the  justices  to  assemble  all 
the  people  of  the  villages  for  consultation  on  the  same 
subject.     The   two  sachems  appeared,  with  the  ringleader 
in  the  recent  broil,  who  was  bound  over  for  trial.     Four     27. 
Long  Island  Indians  accompanied  Ninecraft.     They  were 
examined  at  length,  and   so  clearly  explained  what  had      28. 
caused  the  rumors  of  a   plot,  that  the  whole  were  dis- 
charged, and  the  excitement  soon  passed  away. 

The  Commissioners  of  the   United  Colonies  took  up    Sept. 
the  complaints  of  the  people  of  Stonington,  denounced 
Rhode  Island,  and  advised  that  the  General  Court  of  Con- 
necticut should  demand  satisfaction,  and  if  refused,  that 


340  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

notice  should  be  given  to  the  several  colonies,  and  theii 
advice  asked  upon  the  mode  of  seeking  redress.      The 
16G9.  New  England  league  exercised  less  influence  than  for- 
merly.    It  had  become  essentially  weak,  and  a  proposal 

Oct.  to  revise  the  terms  of  union  was  submitted  at  this  time, 
but  although  it  was  approved  and  acted  upon,  nothing  de- 
cisive residted.'  In  a  few  years  the  confederacy  expired 
by  default,  and  Rhode  Island  was  thus  relieved  from  what 
had  often  been  to  her  a  source  of  oppression,  and  had  al- 
ways given  her  great  annoyance. 

So  far  from  an  amicable  settlement  with  Harrod,  as 
desired  by  the  Assembly,  Harris,  the  repeated  verdicts  in 
whose  favor  entitled  him  to  the  final  process  of  the  law, 
wrote  to  him  a  letter,  wherein  he  so  abused  the  people  of 
Warwick  that  it  was  made  the  occasion  for  a  town  meet- 

4.  ing.  An  address  was  prepared  to  be  presented  to  the 
Assembly,  condemning  the  conduct  of  Harris  as  danger- 
ous to  the  existence  of  the  colony.     The  address  was  read 

18.  at  the  next  town  meeting  ;  and  the  feeling  of  the  town 
was  expressed  in  a  vote  too  plainly  to  be  mistaken.  '^     The 

27.  letter  was  read  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  parties 
to  the  lawsuit  were  earnestly  entreated  to  settle  their  dif- 
ferences by  arbitration,  but  in  vain. 

The  quarrel  at  Providence  was  renewed  with  fresh  vir- 
ulence. Certificates  from  two  town  clerks,  claiming  to  be 
legally  chosen,  were  presented,  one  of  which  declared  that 
there  had  been  no  election  of  deputies,  and  the  other  cer- 

'  Hazard's  State  papers,  ii. 

'  "  Voted,  That  the  letter  prepared  by  the  town  council  touching  William 
Harris  shall  be  read,  which  was  done  accordingly,  and  ordered  to  be  signed 
by  the  town  dark  in  the  name  of  the  town,  and  by  the  deputies  to  be  deliv- 
ered to  the  next  General  Assembly,  by  a  unanimous   consent ;    and    that  the 
'  town  dark  do  put  the  paper  of  William   Harris,  that  occasioned   the  letter, 

upon  the  dam — Jile  amongst  those  papers  of  that  nature."  Warwick  records, 
18th  Oct.,  lOO'J.  It  will  be  seen  by  this  that  the  remarkable  file,  referred  to 
in  the  note  a  few  pages  back,  was  rapidly  increasing  in  size,  and  becoming 
more  intense  in  its  character. 


INTERNAL    TROUBLES.  341 

tifying  to  the  election  of  the  four  deputies  who  claimed  chap, 
their  seats  under  it.  They  were  rejected,  so  that  Provi-  ^J^^ 
dence  was  unrepresented  at  this  session.  This  deplorable  16  69. 
feud  caused  the  Assembly  to  appoint  a  special  committee 
of  five  to  go  to  Providence,  and  call  a  meeting  of  the 
townsmen,  to  endeavor  to  persuade  them  to  refer  the  sub- 
jects of  dispute  to  the  decision  of  disinterested  parties. 
If  this  was  agreed  to,  they  were  then  to  call  a  town  meet- 
ing to  elect  officers  and  deputies  ;  meanwhile  all  actions 
at  law  growing  out  of  this  quarrel  were  to  be  suspended 
till  another  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  The  six  hundred 
pound  tax,  the  real  cause  of  much  of  the  disaffection  now 
existing  in  the  impoverished  colony,  was  not  yet  all  col- 
lected. The  powers  of  the  committee  were  renewed,  and 
the  sero-eant  was  ordered  to  distrain  at  their  biddinor. 
Warwick  prepared  to  resist  this  act,  and  warned  Harris    Nov. 

1  ft 

not  to  enter  the  town  without  leave. 

The  Council  of  Connecticut  wrote  to  the  men  of  Wes-      -^g 
<erly  to  require   them  to  give   satisfaction  for  injuries  in- 
flicted, not  only  ujjon  those  of  Stonington,  but  also  upon 
the   heirs  of   the   Atherton  company,   saying   that  time 
would  be  allowed  them  till  the  next   March  to  arrange 
these  matters.     No  notice  was  taken  of  this  missive  till  i669-to. 
the  time  had  expired,  when  an  answer  was  returned,  re-  ^'^^^^ 
ferring  to  the  injuries  formerly  received  by  them  from  the 
Stonington  men,  and  stating  that  if  Connecticut  had  any 
complaints  to  make,  the  Courts  of  Khode  Island  would  do 
justice  to  the  litigants. 

An  extra  session  of  the  Assembly  was  called  in  conse-  22. 
queuce  of  internal,  as  well  as  of  external  troubles.  Four 
men '  were  appointed  to  go  to  Providence,  two  of  whom 
were  empowered  to  make  a  list  of  the  freemen,  and  to  call 
a  meeting  of  all  such  to  elect  officers  and  deputies,  and 
to  forbid  any  others  tirom  voting  under  peril  of  arrest  as 

^  John  Easton  and  Joshua  Coggeshall,  with  Lott  Strange  and  Joseph  Tor- 
rej  added  tor  counsel. 


25. 


342  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   rioters.     All  names,  titles  and  passages  in  the  laws  de- 
^J^  rogatory  to  the  King,  which  under  the  various .  govern- 
16  70.  ments  prior  to  the  restoration  had  been  used,  were  for- 
mally repealed  ;  but  the  laws  in  which  they  occurred  were 
to  be  letained  in  full  force.     This  was  simply^carrying 
out,  more  fully  than  had  yet  l)een  done,  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  royal  Commissioners  on  that  point.     A  spe- 
cial commission  was  issued  to  the  justices  of  Kings  Prov- 
ince to  arrest  any  person  pretending  authority  from  Con- 
necticut, or  elsewhere,  who  should  presume  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  in  that  province. 
April  The  Providence  committee  performed  their  duties  by 

calling  a  town  meeting,  at  which   officeis,  selected  from 
both  the  contending  parties,  w^ere  legally  chosen.     Affairs 
1^^     at  Warwick  proceeded  less  quietly.     Writs  were  served 
upon  the  town  clerk  and  upon  Samuel  Gorton,  sen.,  and 
John  Wickes,  sen.,  two  of  the  town  Council,  at  the  suit 
of  the  Attorney  General,  for  debts  due  to  the  colony  by 
the  town  on  account  of  the  old  tax  of  1664,  and  they 
28.      were  im2)risoned.     The  town  protested  against  this  act  as 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,  and  agreed  to  stand 
by  their  officers  and  each  other  in  resisting  it,  in  a  paper 
entered  upon  their  records  and  signed  by  nearly  all  the 
freemen.     This  difficulty  was  soon  after  settled, 
jjjjy  At  the  general  election  the  same  officers  were  chosen, 

4^-  but  John  Clarke  declining  to  serve  again  as  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor, Nicolas  Easton  was  chosen  in  liis  place.  In  the 
choice  of  second  Assistant  from  Providence,  there  being 
some  doubt  which  of  the  rival  candidates,  William  Har- 
ris or  Arthur  Fenner  was  elected,  and  neither  being  will- 
ing to  serve  under  these  circumstances,  Roger  Williams 
w'as  chosen  to  that  office.  A  committee  was  appointed, 
upon  petition  from  Block  Island,  to  obtain  contributions 
for  making  a  harbor  there. 

The  Connecticut  Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to 
meet  such  as  Rhode  Island  might   authorize,  to  treat  on 


10. 


1-2. 


THE   KINGS   PROVINCE   DISPUTE.  343 

the  question  of  boundary  at  New  London,  with  full  pow-   chap. 
ers  to  settle  all  disputes,  and  also  in  case   Rhode  Island   ..Ji^^^ 
refused  to  treat,  to  reduce   the   people  of  Westerly  and  1 6 '  0. 
Narraganset  to  submission.     A  letter  to  that   effect  was 
sent  to  Grov.  Arnold.     The  people  of  Stonington  renewed      13. 
their  former  jjetition  for  redress.     Grov.   Winthrop  now 
took  that  manly  stand,  against  the  popular  clamor,  which 
his  own  high  sense  of  personal  honor  and  of  public  right 
dictated.     In  a  formal  message  to  his  Legislature  he  dis-      17 
sented  from  the  extreme  course  they  had  decided  to  adopt, 
and   refused,  upon  the  ground  of  his  agreement  with  Dr. 
Clarke,   to   exercise  jurisdiction   east  of  the   Pawcatuck 
river  until  his  Majesty's   pleasure  was  further  known,  or 
till  the  question  should  be  settled  by  treaty.     The  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  of  Rhode  Island  replied  to  the  Con-      23. 
necticut  letter,  deprecating  the  threats  it  contained,  ex- 
pressing a  desire  for  peace,  and  agreeing  to  the  proposal 
to  send  Commissioners  to  New  London.     A  special  ses-    .June 
sion  of  the  Assembly  was  called  to  appoint  them.     John       '' 
Greene,  Assistant,  Joseph  Torrey,  Recorder,  and  Richard 
Bailey,  Clerk  of  the  Council,  were  empowered  to  treat  on 
the  part  of  Rhode  Island.     Their  instructions  gave  them 
full  powers,  within  the  terms  of  the   charter,  and  of  the 
decree  of  the  royal  Commissioners.     The  two  committees 
met  at  New  London.     The  negotiations  were  conducted      -^_^ 
entirely  in  writing,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Rhode  Island      to 
men.     They  occupied  three  days,  and  embrace  seventeen 
letters.       Connecticut    claimed  jurisdiction   over    Kings 
Province  by  her  charter.     Rhode  Island  replied  that  that 
only  could  mean  Narraganset  river,  in  the  charter,  which 
was  therein  expressly  described  to  be  such.     This  was  the 
substance  of  the  whole  correspondence,  which  closed  by 
an  assurance  on  the  part  of  Rhode   Island,  that  if  Con- 
necticut   should    attempt  to  usurp   the  government  of 
Kings  Province  she  would  appeal  to  the   King.     Thus 
ended  this  fruitless  effort  at  conciliation.     The  Connecti- 


344  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAT,  cut  men,  the  same  evening,  read  a  declaration  of  their 
^"^  intention  to  estabhsh  a  government   at   Westerly,  and 
1(5  7  0.  Wickford,  in  his  Majesty's  name.     The  next  day  they 
17       went  to  Stonington  and  formailly  proclaimed  the  author- 
ity of  Connecticut  over  the  people  of  Westerly,  and  sum- 
moned them,  as  being  a  part  of  the  township  of  Stoning- 
ton, to  submit  thereunto.     They  also  issued  a'warrant  to 
John  Frincke  to  warn  the  inhabitants  east  of  Pawcatuck 
river  to  appear  the  same  day  at  Captain  Gfookin's  house, 
in  Stonington,  to  hear  the  proclamation,  but  they  failing 
to  obey  the  summons  the  paper  was  publicly  read  on  Goo- 
kin's  land.     That  night  Frincke  and  two  of  his  aids  were 
arrested  and   sent  to   Newport  jail,  by  James   Babcock, 
sen.,  a  Khode  Island  officer,  under  a  warrant  issued  by 
Tobias   Saunders  of  Westerly.      Saunders  and   Babcock 
jg      were  in  turn  arrested  and  brought  before  the   Commis- 
sioners, to  answer  for  the  seizure  of  Frincke.     They  ad- 
mitted the  charge,  defending  it  by  virtue  of  their  com- 
missions as  Rhode  Island  officers,  and  were  discharged  on 
29      bail.     The  next  day  news  of  these  occurrences  reaching 
Newport  the  Council  was  called  together.     A  commission 
^^-     was  issued  to  certain  officers  to  proceed  to  Narraganset, 
there  to  forbid  any  one  usurping  government  under  au- 
thority from  Connecticut,  and  to  bring  any  such  as  pris- 
oners to  Newport,  or  in  case  of  resistance,  to  read  pub- 
licly the  prohibition,  and  then  to  deliver  it  to  the  offend- 
ing  parties.      The    Connecticut    Commissioners,   with  a 
force  of  fifty  mounted  men,  went  to  Wickford  on  that 
day,  proclaimed  their  government  and  read  their  charter. 
They  then  sent  messengers  to  Petaquamscut,  who  were 
21      seized  on  the  road,  but  were  afterward  delivered  up  on  re- 
quisition.    At  this  juncture  the  four  men  '  sent  by  the 
Council  at  Newport  reached  Wickford,  bringing  the  pris- 
oner Frincke  with  them,  and  delivered  their  letter  to  the 
Connecticut  officers.     It  was  immediately  answered  in  a 

'  Joseph  Torrey,  Richard  Bailey,  James  Barker  and  Caleb  Can*. 


23. 


THE    KINGS   PROVINCE  DISPUTE.  345 

tone  corresponding  to  the  policy  that  Connecticut  was  chap. 
now  engaged,  with  a  high  hand,  in  carrying  out.  Har-  .^^J^J^ 
vard  college  had  received  a  grant  of  five  hundred  acres  of  l  6  7  0. 
land  in  Southertown,  at  the  time  of  the  annexation  by 
Massachusetts,  and  now  petitioned  Connecticut  for  relief  21 
against  the  people  of  Westerly.  A  similar  proclamation 
to  that  at  Stonington  was  set  up  at  Wickford,  nailed  on  2-- 
the  door  of  Captain  Hudson's  house,  and  local  officers 
were  appointed  to  administer  the  government  in  behalf 
of  Connecticut.  The  like  declaration  was  also  made  at 
Petaquamscut.  The  next  day  they  went  to  Stonington 
and  issued  another  proclamation,  warning  the  Rhode  Isl- 
and officers  not  to  exercise  authority  in  Westerly,  and 
enjoining  upon  the  people  of  that  town  obedience  to  the 
magistrates,  named  in  the  paper,  appointed  by  Connecti- 
cut. They  also  gave  them  liberty  to  use  the  County 
Court  at  New  London  for  justice  when  required.  Upon 
these  bold  proceedings  being  known,  the  Council  of  Rhode 
Island  called  a  special  session  of  the  General  Assembly  24. 
to -meet  at  Warwick  on  the  following  Wednesday.  This 
was  the  first  session  under  the  new  charter  that  had  been 
held  at  any  other  place  than  Newport.  The  proximity 
of  Warwick  to  the  scene  of  disturbance  doubtless  occa- 
sioned this  deviation  from  what  had  now  become  a  settled 
usage.  The  charter  named  Newport  as  the  place  for  the 
Assembly,  but  permitted  it  to  be  held  "  elsewhere,  if  ur- 
gent occasion  doe  require."  The  Assembly  appointed 
Governor  Arnold,  as  the  agent  of  the  colony,  to  proceed 
to  England,  there  to  defend  the  charter  against  the  in- 
vasions of  Connecticut  ;  or  if  he  could  not  go,  then  Dr. 
John  Clarke,  who  had  obtained  the  charter,  was  appoint- 
ed, with  Capt.  John  Greene,  Assistant,  of  Warwick,  as 
joint  agents  for  this  object.  The  Governor  was  requested 
to  write  to  Connecticut  and  the  other  colonies,  as  also  to 
New  York,  on  the  same  subject. 

A  debt  of  eighty  pounds  still  due  to  Richard  Dean 


29. 


Jnh 


346  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  for  services  in  obtaining  the  charter,  was  paid  by  a  loan 
,^:^„^  from  private  individuals  to  the  colony,  and  a  tax  of  three 
16  70.  hundred  pounds  was  levied  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
new  agency.  Of  this  tax  Newport  was  assessed  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  pounds,  Providence  and  Ports- 
mouth fifty-one  each,  Warwick  thirty-two,  Petaqiiamscot 
sixteen.  Block  Island  fifteen,  and  Conanicut  twelve 
pounds.  The  most  favorable  result  of  this  Assembly  was 
that  it  quieted  the  feeling  of  discontent,  so  rife  hi  War- 
wick for  six  years  past,  if  we  may  judge  from-'the  readi- 

2.  ness  with  which  the  town  now  voted  their  portion  of  the 
new  tax  and  of  the  arrears  still  due  on  the  old  one. 

11.  Gov.  Arnold  wrote  a  long  and  friendly  letter  to  Gov. 

Winthrop,  informing  him  of  the  preparations  of  the  As- 
sembly to  appeal  to  the  King  in  the  autumn,  attributing 
the  conduct  of  Connecticut  to  the  influence  of  men  ac- 
tuated by  private  interests,  and  also  asking  the  surrender 
of  a  fugitive  from  Rhode  Island,  who  had  twice  broken 
jail  and  was  now  harbored  at  Stonington.'  The  murder 
of  Walter  House  by  Thomas  Flounders  at  Wickford,  an 

22  act  of  private  revenge,  now  served  still  further  to  compli- 
cate the  difficulties  between  the  two  colonies.  The  Con- 
necticut coroner  held  an  inquest  on  the  body.     When  the 

^^-  Pihode  Island  coroner  came  for  that  purpose  he  was  de- 
nied access  to  the  corpse.  He  forbade  the  burial,  which 
however  was  performed.  The  Council  at  Newport  or- 
dered the  body  to  be  disinterred,  that  a  legal  inquest 
might  be  held,  and  sent  a  constable,  with  sufficient  force, 
to  arrest  the  murderer,  and  also  those  who  had  obstructed 
the  coroner,  as  well  as  any  who  might  attempt  to  prevent 
the  execution  of  this  order.     Thomas  Stanton,  one  of  the 

J  ^  newly  appointed  magistrates  at  Stonington,  wrote  to  Con- 
necticut wliat  had  been  done  in  the  premises.     The  mur- 

'  This  letter  of  July  Ilth,  with  all  the  papers  relating  to  the  acts  of  Con- 
necticut, and  of  the  joint  commission  from  May  Tith,  are  printed  in  R.  L 
Col  Rec,  ii.  309-328,  presenting  a  complete  documentary  history  of  this  im 
portant  period. 


THE    KINGS   PROVINCE    DISPUTE,  347 

derer  was  arrested  on  tlio  Ehode  Island  warrant  and  taken  chap. 
to  Newport.     Samuel  Eldredge  and  John  Cole,  two  of    ^^ 
the  Connecticut  officers  at  Wickford,  who  had  obstructed   16  70. 
those  of  Rhode  Island,  were  also  taken  prisoners.     Floun-      ^^ 
ders  was  indicted  for  murder,  and  afterwards,  in  October, 
was  tried  and  osecuted.     The  two  officers  were  commit- 
ted to  the  custody  of  the  Sergeant   till  they  should  give 
bail  to  appear  at.  the  October  Court.     The  Council  of 
Connecticut  appointed  another  constable  at  Wickford  in      2I 
place  of  Eldredge,  and  issued  warrants  to  arrest  Samuel 
Wilson  and  Thonuis  Mumford,  the  Rhode  Island  officers 
who  had  torn  down  the  declaration  of  authority  that  had 
been  set  up  by  the  Commissioners  at  Hudson's  house. 
They  also  wrote  a  letter  to  Rhode  Island,  complaining  of 
the  zeal  with  whicli  she  strove  to  maintain  her  rights  over 
the  Kings  Province. 

That  the  people  of  Connecticut  were  not  unanimous 
in  their  approval  of  the  conduct  of  their  authorities  in 
such  high-handed  proceedings,  but  that  these  were  insti- 
gated, as  Gov.  Arnold  intimates  in  his  letter  to  Gov. 
Winthrop,  by  parties  having  private  interests  to  subserve, 
appears,  not  only  by  the  refusal  of  Winthrop  to  exercise 
jurisdiction,  as  Governor,  east  of  Pawcatuck  river,  but 
also  in  a  letter  from  Major  John  Mason  of  Norwich,  to  Aug. 
the  Connecticut  Commissioners,  enclosing  that  celebrated  • 

letter,  recently  received  by  him  from  Roger  Williams, 
which  contains  so  lucid  a  sketch  of  the  early  history  of 
Rhode  Island.^  Mason,  in  this  communication,  depre- 
cates the  action  of  the  Commissioners  in  Narraganset  as 
unwise,  and  describes  the  territory  to  be  gained  as  of 
doubtful  value  compared  with  the  cost  of  contesting  it, 
and  significantly  suggests  that  "  the  toll  may  prove  to  be 
more  than  the  grist." 

The  General  Assemblies  of  Connecticut  and  of  Rhode     9o'' 


13. 


This  important  letter  is  printed  at  length  in  I  M.  H.  C.  L  275-283,  and 
in  part  in  R.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  159-163. 


348  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAISTD. 

CHAP.  Island  met  on  the  same  day,  one  at  Hartford,  the  other 
.^J^^  at  Ne.wj)ort.  The  Connecticut  Commissioners  reported 
16  7  0,  their  proceedings  at  Narraganset,  which  were  approved, 
13  *  and  the  officers  named  by  them  in  Kings  Province  were 
confirmed.  The  former  bounds  of  Southertown,  as  incor- 
porated by  Massachusetts,  were  granted  to  Stonington, 
which  included  the  whole  of  Westerly.  A  new  set  of 
Commissioners,  including  one  of  the  former  body,  were 
appointed  to  treat  once  more  with  Rhode  Island*  on  the 
questions  at  issue,  and  were  invested  with  the -same  pow- 
ers that  their  predecessors  had  received.  Governor  Win- 
throp  sent  in  his  resignation  to  this  Court,  but  it  was  not 
accepted.  The  posture  of  affixirs  in  Rhode  Island  is  sup- 
posed to  have  influenced  him  in  this  step,  as  he  had  pre- 
viously refused  to  violate  his  agreement  with  Clarke,  and 
to  trample  on  the  rights  of  Rhode  Island. 

The  Assembly  at  Newport  issued  new  summons  to  the 
witnesses  at  Wickford  to  attend  at  the  trial  of  Flounders, 
the  former  ones  having  been  seized  by  a  Connecticut  offi- 
cer before  they  could  be  served.  A  conciliatory  letter 
15.  was  sent  by  two  messengers  to  Connecticut,  desiring  that 
an  easier  mode  of  settling  the  dift'crcnces  than  by  appeal 
to  England  might  be  devised,  and  relying  upon  the  tem- 
perate spirit  of  Gov.  Winthrop's  letter,  it  suggests  a  new 
commission,  and  that  Connecticut  meanwhile  should  forbear 
to  exercise  jurisdiction  in  the  King's  Province.  To  this 
overture  Connecticut  replied,  approving  the  acts  of  her 
Commissioners  in  June,  dissenting  from  the  points  of 
Gov.  Arnold's  letter  of  July,  and  accepting  the  proposal 
of  a  new  treaty,  but  declining  the  proviso  upon  which  the 
offer  was  made,  that  Connecticut  should  in  the  interval 
suspend  the  exercise  of  authority  in  Narraganset.  This 
of  course  put  an  end  to  further  negotiation,  and  Rhode 
Island  resumed  her  preparations  for  a  final  appeal  to  the 
King.  A  special  session  of  the  Assembly  was  held,  at 
which  it  was  ordered  that  such  persons  as  were  qualified 


18, 


26 


VALUES  OF  MONEY  AND  PRODUCE.  349 

for  public  service  in  holding  offices,  should  be  made  free- 
men by  their  respective  towns,  whether  they  desired  it  or 
not.  This  was  a  compulsory  act,  akin  to  that  which  im- 
posed a  fine  on  any  one  elected  to  office  who  should  refuse 
to  serve,  and  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  the  spirit  of 
later  years  on  this  subject.  Summary  means  were  adopted 
to  collect  the  taxes  levied  for  the  purpose  of  sending 
agents  to  England.  If  not  paid  within  two  months  the 
process  of  distraint  was  to  be  employed.  The  details  of 
the  act  acquaint  us  with  the  market  values  of  the  chief 
articles  of  produce  at  that  time.  Pork  was  three  pence, 
or  two-and-a-quarter  cents  a  pound  ;  butter,  six  pence  ; 
wool,  one  shilling  ;  peas,  three  shillings  and  six  pence  a 
bushel  ;  wheat,  five  shillings  ;  Indian  corn,  three  shil- 
lings ;  oats,  two  shillings  and  three  pence.  A  penny  at 
that  time  was  equal  to  a  fraction  less  than  three-quarters 
of  a  cent  at  the  present  day,  and  one  shilling  was  about 
eight  and  one-quarter  of  our  cents.  Forty  shillings  of 
New  England  currency  was  then  equal  to  thirty  shillings 
sterling.  For  those  who  paid  in  silver  coin  of  New  Eng- 
land, one  shilling  was  taken  for  two  shillings  in  produce 
at  the  above  rates. 

By  English  statute  the  estate  of  a  felon  was  forfeited. 
The  murderer.  Flounders,  having  been  executed,  the  As- 
sembly restored  to  his  widow  the  residue  of  his  property, 
after  deducting  the  expenses  of  his  trial,  as  an  act  of 
mercy.  Continued  acts  .of  violence  on  the  part  of  Con- 
necticut again  led  to  an  extra  session  of  the  General  As-  April 
sembly,  the  sole  purpose  of  which  was  to  pass  an  act  con-  ^• 
fiscating  the  estates  of  those  who  presumed  to  exercise 
authority  in  Kings  Province  without  a  commission  from 
Rhode  Island,  and  also  of  those  inhabitants  of  Westerly 
who  should  place  their  lands  under  the  control  of  Con- 
necticut ;  while  the  faith  of  the  colony  was  pledged  to 
make  good  any  loss  sustained  by  those  who  remained 
faithful. 


350  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  alarm  of  Indian  war  again  aroused  the  colonies, 
Gov.  Prince  wrote  to  Rhode  Island  concerning  the  suspi- 
cious attitude  of  Philip  of  Pokanoket.  A  council  was 
called  to  reply  to  the  letter,  and  a  conference,  to  be  held 
at  Taunton,  was  proposed,  but  for  the  present  was  post- 
poned. 
May  The  regular  session  of  Assembly  was  held  the  day  be- 

^-      fore  the  election,  for  the  admission  of  freemen.     At  the 

o  election  John  Clarke,  who  had  been  Deputy  O-ovemor  the 
previous  year  but  had  declined  office  the  past  year,  was 
again  chosen  to  that  place.  Another  outrage  occurred  at 
Westerly.  Two  of  the  Connecticut  constables,  while  lay- 
ing out  lands  east  of  Pawcatuck  river,  were  driven  off  by 
the  Rhode  Island  officers,  one  of  whom,  John  Crandall, 
was  afterwards  seized  and  taken  to  New  London  for  trial. 
He  applied  to  this  Assembly  for  advice  whether  to  give 
bonds  or  to  go  to  prison.  They  advised  him  to  give  no 
bond  in  any  matter  pertaining  to  his  acts  performed  in 
maintaining  his  Majesty's  authority  in  the  colony,  and  as- 
sured him  of  protection.  This  violence  drew  forth  another 
letter  to  Connecticut,  again  tendering  an  appeal  to  the 
King  as  the  only  remaining  solution  of  the  difficulty. 

jl  The  Hartford  Assembly  replied,  reiterating  their  claim, 
but  taking  no  notice  of  the  proposed  appeal  ;  to  avoid 
which,  if  possible,  they  appointed  another  set  of  Com- 
missioners to  open  a  new  treaty  with  Rhode  Island.  The 
General  Assembly  appointed  meetings  of  the  Court  of 
Justices,  that  had  been  clothed  by  the  royal  Commission- 
ers with  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  Kings  Province,  to 
be  held  at  Westerly  and  other  places,  to  examine  the  af- 
fairs of  the  province,  and  to  restore  quiet  to  its  inhabit- 
ants. They  accordingly  met  at  Westerly,  the  Deputy 
Governor,  John  Clarke,  presiding,  and  directed  the  Con- 
stable, James  Babcock,  to  summon  the  people  to  attend 
on  the  morrow.     Babcock  refused  to  obey,  and  was  ar- 

17.     rested  by  order  of  the  Court.     Another  officer  warned  the 


IG 


AUTHORITY   OVER   KINGS  PROVINCE    SECURED.  351 

people  to  assemble,  when  the  charter,  the  royal  commis-  chap 

sion  of  the  Justices,  the  agreement  between  Clarke  and   t^:^ 

Winthrop   and  other  pertinent  papers  were  read.     The  16  71. 
meeting  was  disturbed  by  the  intrusion  of  a  mounted        ^" 
force  from  Stonington,  who  asserted  the  authority  of  Con- 
necticut, and  ordered  the  Court  to  desist,  but  no  collision 
ensued.     A  written  protest  was  delivered  to  the  intruders, 
maintaining  the   authority  of  Rhode   Island.     The  free- 
men were  then  examined  as  to  their  fidelity,  and  nearly 
all  agreed  to  stand  by  the  King  and  this  colony.     A  dec- 
laration was  issued  by  the  Court,  wherein  John  Crandall      18. 
and  Tobias  Sanders  were  confirmed  as  Justices,  and  the 
reciprocal  engagement  of  the  colony  to  protect  the  people 
of  Westerly  was  afiirmed.     The  Court  then  proceeded  to 
Petaquamscot,  where,  the  inhabitants  being  assembled,      19. 
similar  proceedings  were  held  without  interruption,  and 
the  Court  adjourned  to  meet  at  Acquidneset.     The  pro- 
prietors there  inquired  if  the  Court  claimed  ownership  of 
their  lands  in  behalf  of  the  colony,  and  upon  being  as- 
sured of  the  contrary,  they  readily  gave  their  engagement 
to  Rhode  Island,  and  elected  officers,  who  were  confirmed 
by  the  Court. 

All  legal  and  peaceable  means  having  thus  been  taken     Juna 
to  secure  the  loyalty  of  Kings  Province,  the  General  As- 
sembly met  at  Newport.     One  Uselton,  having  been  sen-       7. 
tenced  at  the  last  Court  of  Trials  to  leave  the  island,  but 
still  remaining,  was  brought  before  the  Assembly,  where 
his  conduct  was  so  insulting  that  he  was   sentenced  to  be 
whipped  with  fifteen   stripes,  and  to  be  sent  away  forth- 
with, and  if  again  found  within  the  colony  he  was  again 
to  be  punished  in  the  same  manner.     A  burglar,  under 
sentence  of  death  by  the  Court  of  Trials,  petitioned  for 
reprieve,  but  was  refused,  and  his  execution  was  ordered 
to  take  place  without  delay.     The  sum  of  three  pence 
per  day  was  allowed  for  the  support  of  each  prisoner  con-       ^• 
fined  upon  criminal  process.     Commissioners  were  again 


20. 


352  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

appointed  to  treat  with  Connecticut,  and  a  letter  was 
sent  to  that  colony  reaffirming  the  authority  of  Rhode 
Island  over  Kings  Province,  until  the  King's  will  could 
be  known,  accepting  the  proposals  for  a  new  treaty,  the 
Commissioners  to  meet  at  some  place  not  within  either 
colony,  and  proposing  that  the  two  agents,  Dr.  Clarke  and 
Gov.  Winthrop,  should  be  present  at  such  meeting.  An 
active  corresiiondence  relating  to  Indian  affairs  >^as  car- 
July  ried  on  with  Plvmouth.  A  letter  from  Gov.  Prince,  sug- 
8  .  "  .      ""  . 

gesting  a  conference  at  Taunton,  was  considered  so  im- 

21  portant  that  the  Council  ordered  copies  of  it  to  be  sent 
to  the  other  towns.     The  Connecticut  Council  replied  to 

29-  the  last  letter  from  Rhode  Island,  that  they  could  not  al- 
ter the  place  of  meeting  except  by  act  of  their  General 
Court,  to  whom  the  proposal  should  be  submitted  at  the 
next  session. 

Rumors  of  Indian  hostilities  again  summoned  the  couu- 
'^"?*    cil  at  Newport,  who  wrote  to  Governor  Prince,  and  the 

31.  next  day  called  a  council  of  war  to  be  held  the  following 
bept.  -^gek,  and  ordered  a  troop  of  horse  to  attend  as  a  guard. 
A  special  session  of  the  Assembly  was  called  at  Newport. 
The  vote  of  the  previous  year,  appointing  Dr.  Clarke  and 
John  Greene  as  joint  agents  to  conduct  the  aj)})eal  in 
England,  was  revised,  and  Clarke  was  named  as  sole  agent 
for  that  purpose.  His  commission  was  directed  to  be  made 
out  by  the  Governor,  and  a  new  tax  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  in  silver  was  assessed.  The  accumulation  of 
large  tracts  of  land,  upon  the  main,  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
persons  incapable  of  improving  so  much,  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  Assembly.  While  the  tax  necessary  to  the 
defence  of  these  lands  was  onerous,  the  effect  was  to  dis- 
courage many  upon  whom  the  burden  rested  without  a 
hope  of  their  sharing  in  the  advantages  of  a  freehold.  The 
Assembly  recommended  that  some  of  these  wild  lands  be 
purchased   on   public   account,  that  those  in  immediate 


25. 


FURTHER    DISPUTES   WITH    CONNECTICUT.  353 

want  of  land,  or  who  might  hereafter  be  received  into  the  chap 
colony,  could  be  supplied.  v— v^>- 

Upon  a  petition  of  the  people  of  Westerly,  the  Gen-  1671. 
eral  Assembly  of  Connecticut  promised  them  protection,      12.' 
and  also  a  temporary  cessation  from  all  suits  upon  land 
titles,  or  for  trespass,  provided  they  peaceably  submitted 
to  her  authority.     The  proposal  in  the  Rhode  Island  letter 
of  June  was  so  far  accepted  that  commissioners  were  au- 
thorized to  settle  all  disputes,  either  by  agreement  with 
those  of  Rhode  Island,  or  by  a  mutual  reference  of  the 
subject  to  gentlemen  selected  from  the  other  colonies,  to 
meet  at  Rehoboth  or  in  Boston,  either  in  November  or  in 
April,  and  a  letter  to  this  eifect  was  sent  to  Rhode  Island. 
The  General  Assembly  met  at  the  usual  time,  and  after      25. 
healing  the  correspondence  read,  adjourned  one  week  to    Xov. 
secure  a  further  attendance  of  deputies.     The  alarm  of      ■'^• 
war  had  subsided,  as  appears  by  a  letter  from  the  Assem-       2. 
bly  to  Plymouth  ;  but  not  so  the  troubles  on  their  western 
borders.     A  reply  was  sent  to  Connecticut,  selecting  See-      4. 
conck,  called  also  Rehoboth,  as  the  j^lace,  and  April  as  the 
time,  to  renew  the  attempt  at  a  treaty  ;  but  further  stat- 
ing that  the  Rhode  Island  men  would  only  be  empowered 
to  decide  disputed  questions  of  land  title,  and  not  the  mat- 
ter of  jurisdiction,  upon  which  they  could  concede  nothing. 
To  this  end  a  committee  was  again  appointed.     When 
the  letter  reached  Hartford,  Governor  Winthrop  was  ab- 
sent, so  that  no  definite  answer  could  be  returned. 

Most  of  the  towns  were,  as  usual,  in  arrears  for  the  last 
assessment,  so  that  the  act  was  renewed.  Warwick  re- 
fused to  furnish  her  portion  of  it  while  the  negotiation  with 
Connecticut  was  yet  in  progress.  At  length  a  formal  no-  ^g^^.o 
tice  was  sent  by  Connecticut,  declining  the  meeting  at  Jan. 
Rehoboth,  as  a  useless  labor,  unless  the  question  of  juris- 
diction could  be  entertained.  Thus  ended,  for  the  present, 
the  attempt  at  negotiation. 

Internal  dissensions  again  occupied  the  attention  of 
VOL.  I. — 2B 


20 


29. 


354  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  council.     William  Harris  was  now  openly  employed, 

on  the  side  of  Connecticut,  against  the  chartered  rights  of 

1671-2.   Rhode  Island,  with  a  zeal  and  ahilitv  that  could  not  he 
Feb. 

suffered   to   pass   unnoticed.      For   this    act    of  treason, 

whether  real  or  constructive,  a  warrant  was  issued  for  his 

24.      arrest,  and  he  was  committed  to  prison  without  bail,  to 

await  his  trial  at  the  May  tenn. 

March  An  extra  session  of  the  Assembly  was  convened,  at 

^-  which  John  Clarke,  for  the  third  time  within  two  years, 
was  selected  as  the  agent  to  appear  for  the  colony  before 
the  King.  The  repeated  renewal  of  this  appointment,  and 
the  frequent  revision  of  laws,  especially  in  relation  to  taxes, 
arose  from  a  feeling  prevalent  in  those  times,  that  the  acts 
of  one  Assembly  were  not  binding  beyond  the  next  session, 
unless  then  ratified  ;  each  Assembly  being  in  itself  a  sov- 
ereign body  wielding  the  entire  power  of  the  colony.  The 
absence  of  deputies  from  the  mainland  towns  obliged  the 
Assembly  to  dissolve,  and  a  new  one  to  be  called,  to  meet 
^5-  speedily.  At  a  town  meeting  in  Providence  deputies  were 
^  ^    elected  for  the  next  Assembly,  which  was  to  meet  in  April ; 

March   but  as  it  was  ascertained  that  these  men  would  be  unable 
^^-      to  attend  at  that  time,  another  town  meeting  was  held,' 
to  select  such  as  could  attend,  and  who  were  declared  by 
the  Assembly  to  be  legally  chosen. 

April  A  paper  from  William  Harris  was  read,  but   not  re- 

ceived, as  it  was  not  directed  in  a  proper  manner  to  the 
General  Assembly.  This  being  a  full  Assembly,  the  act 
of  the  previous  one,  appointing  Clarke  as  the  agent  to 
England,  and  providing  for  his  support,  was  renewed.  It 
was  also  enacted,  that  no  tax,  raised  for  a  specific  purpose, 
should  on  any  account  be  diverted  to  other  uses,  much 
harm  having  been  sustained  in  this  way  by  the  colony.  A 
very  important  bill  was  passed  at  this  session,  which  de- 
servedly caused  great  commotion  among  the  peoi)le,  and 
cost  a  large  portion  of  the  members  their  election.     This 

'  New  Year  s  day,  old  style,  was  2;jih  March 


2. 


SEDITION   ACT.  355 

was  the  famous  sedition  act,  the  origin  of  which  appears,  chap. 
in  the  preamble,  to  have  been  the  opposition  made  in  the  v^.^ 
several  towns  whenever  a  new  tax  was  assessed.  The  bill  167  2. 
declared  that  whoever  opposed,  by  word  or  deed,  in  town  "  2. 
meeting  or  elsewhere,  any  rate  laid,  or  any  other  of  the 
acts  and  orders  of  the  General  Assembly,  should  be  bound 
over  to  the  Court  of  Trials,  or  imprisoned  till  it  met,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  justice,  for  "  high  contempt  and  sedition  ;" 
and  if  found  guilty,  should  either  be  fined,  imprisoned,  or 
whij^ped,  as  the  Court  might  adjudge.  A  bolder  assertion 
of  the  omnipotence  of  a  Legislature  could  not  be  made, 
and  it  speedily  received  the  rebuke  that  it  merited.  But 
the  act,  severe  as  it  appears,  was  not  passed  without  reason. 
The  grasping  spirit  of  Connecticut  on  one  hand,  the  fear- 
ful symptoms  of  savage  hostility  on  the  other,  and  now 
the  evidence  of  treachery  within,  requiring  j)rompt  and 
vigorous  measures  in  the  Government  to  provide  means 
of  defence  against  these-threatening  calamities,  dismember- 
ment of  territory  and  Indian  war,  would  seem  to  justify  the 
assumption,  for  a  time,  of  the  almost  dictatorial  power  here- 
in usurped.  It  was  not  intended  to  abridge  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  although  represented  to  be  so  by  George  Fox, 
the  founder  of  the  Friends,  who  was  then  in  Rhode  Island. 
An  Assembly  that  was  subject  to  two,  and  often  to  three, 
or  four  ordeals  of  popular  election  every  year,  could  not  do 
that,  or  even  attempt  to  do  it.  But  the  framers  of  the  bill 
seem  not  to  have  reflected,  amid  the  difficulties  that  sur- 
rounded them,  upon  the  abuses  to  which  such  an  act  might 
be  perverted.  The  people  saw  this  directly,  and  within  one 
month,  applied  the  remedy. 

More  violent  proceedings,  by  the  inhabitants  of  Ston- 
ington,  than  any  that  had  yet  occurred,  demanded  the  at- 
tention of  the  Assembly.  They  had  crossed  the  river, 
and  by  force  and  arms  had  carried  away  several  persons  in 
Westerly  to  prison.  Redress  was  refused  by  Connecticut. 
An  act  was  now  passed  to  confiscate  the  estates  of  the  as- 


356  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

sailants,  being  on  the  east  of  Pawcatuck  river,  and  also 
those  of  such  Westerly  men  who  might  be  intimidated  by 
these  outrages  into  submission  to  Connecticut,  while  any 
damage  sustained  by  those  who  remained  faithful,  was  to 
be  made  good  from  the  estates  thus  forfeited. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  the  waste  lands 
in  Narraganset,  and  to  notify  the  owners,  Indian  or  Eng- 
lish, to  appear  at  the  May  session  to  contract  for  a  sale  of 
the  same  to  the  colony.  The  schedule  of  salaries  was  re- 
vised, to  ensure  fuller  attendance  on  the  Assembly,  and  at 
the  Court  of  Trials.  The  Governor  was  allowed  six  shil- 
lings, the  deputy  Governor,  five  shillings,  the  magistrates, 
four  sliilliugs,  and  the  deputies,  the  same  as  by  a  former 
law,  three  shillings,  for  each  day's  attendance,  with  double 
fines  in  case  of  absence.  A  dinner  was  also  to  be  provided 
each  day,  at  public  expense,  for  the  whole  Assembly,  and 
also,  during  the  Court  of  Trials,  for  the  magistrates. 

A  further  source  of  peril,  and  occasion  of  expense,  was 
about  to  come  upon  the  too  heavily  burdened  colony. 
War.  was  declared  by  England  against  the  States  General 
of  the  United  Provinces,  and  letters  warning  the  colonists 
to  prej)are  for  defence  were  forthwith  despatched  to 
America. 

The  Assembly  met  as  usual  the  day  before  election, 
MaV  ^^^  admitted  many  freemen.  This  election  was  the  most 
1.  remarkable  one  that  had  occurred  for  twenty  years.  The 
changes  were  almost  complete,  while  repeated  refusals  to 
accept  office  threatened  to  leave  some  places  unfilled. 
William  Brenton  was  elected  Governor,  but  refused  to 
serve.  He  was  aljsent  in  Taunton  at  the  time,  and  as  his 
answer  could  not  be  received  tor  some  days,  the  Court  of 
election,  after  choosing  the  other  officers,  adjourned  for  two 
weeks,  when  Nicolas  Easton  was  elected.  His  two  sons 
were  likewise  chosen  as  general  officers,  John  as  Attorney, 
and  Peter  as  Treasurer.  John  Cranston  was  made  deputy 
Governor.     Of  the  ten  former  Assistants,  but  four  were 


NEGOTIATIONS    WITH    CONNECTICUT    RENEWED.  357 

retained,  while  the  change  in  the  twenty  deputies  was  en-  chap. 

tire,  not  a  single  one  in  the  former  Assembly  being  returned  .^ .__ 

from  any  town.  ^^!^'^' 

May 
The  charter  and  other  important  papers  were  always      i^ 

kept  in  the  custody  of  the  Governor,  who,  on  a  new  elec- 
tion, delivered  them  to  his  successor,  taking  a  formal 
receipt  therefor  from  the  committee  appointed  to  receive 
them.  This  was  deemed  so  important  that  the  receipt, 
specifying  the  separate  papers  delivered,  was  usually  en- 
tered upon  the  records.  It  was  also  the  custom  to  open 
every  session  of  the  Assembly  by  reading  the  charter, 
thereby  preserving  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  legislators, 
the  provisions  of  that  fundamental  instrument. 

The  Assembly  adjourned  for  two  weeks,  after  writing 
a  letter  to  Connecticut,  requesting  that  Government  not  to 
molest  the  people  at  Westerly,  as  it  was  intended  soon  to 
propose  a  method  of  adjusting  all  difficulties.  The  Con- 
necticut Assembly,  as  soon  as  it  met,  appointed  new  com-  9- 
missioners  to  treat  with  Rhode  Island,  and  empowered 
them,  in  case  of  failure,  to  establish  their  government  in 
Narraganset.  They  also  wrote  a  conciliatory  letter  to 
Rhode  Island  acceding  to  her  request,  and  another  to  the 
Westerly  men,  less  mild  in  its  import,  requiring  their  sub- 
mission until  the  treaty  with  Rhode  Island  was  concluded. 

The  General  Assembly  met  by  adjournment,  and  hav-  ^^* 
ingr  received  Governor  Brenton's  refusal  to  return  to  office 
elected  Nicolas  Easton  Governor.  Mr.  Easton  had  been 
for  two  years.  President  of  the  colony,  just  prior  to  the 
usurpation  of  Coddington,  and  was  more  recently  deputy 
Governor  for  four  years.  The  charter  being  then  read,  as 
usual,  the  Connecticut  question  was  at  once  debated. 
Commissioners  were  appointed  with  full  powers  to  treat, 
and  to  conclude  all  differences,  and  a  letter  announcing 
this  fact,  was  sent  by  a  special  messenger.  The  subse- 
quent correspondence  upon  this  subject,  for  the  next  four 
years,  has  not  been  preserved  ;  a  loss  of  no  great  impor- 


358  HISTORY    OF    THE   STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,    tance,  as  nothing  more  definite  resulted  from  these  writings 
^*\_  than  came  from  this  renewed  attempt  to  settle,  by  treaty, 

16  72.  what  could  only  be  adjusted  by  the  power  that  conferred 
14^  the  charters  whose  terms  formed  the  basis  of  the  dispute. 
This  done,  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  undo  the  acts 
of  their  predecessors-  This  was  performed  as  thorougldy 
as  was  the  change  effected  by  the  recent  elections.  Not 
a  single  public  act  of  the  previous  session  remained  unre- 
jiealed  at  the  close  of  their  labors,  nor  was  there  any  new 
act  passed  by  them.  The  mutability  of  legislation  was 
never  so  perfectly  exemplified.  A  preamble  recites  that 
"  several  acts  and  orders  were  made  in  the  General  As- 
sembly in  April  last,  some  whereof  seeminge  to  the  in- 
fringeinge  of  the  libertyes  of  the  people  of  this  colony,  and 
settinge  up  an  arbitrary  power,  which  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  England,  and  the  fundamentall  laws  of  this  colony 
from  the  very  first  settling  thereof,  others  seeminge  much 
to  the  prejudice  of  the  collony,  and  impoverishinge  the 
people  thereof,  to  the  great  disturbance  and  distraction  of 
the  good  and  well  minded  people  thereof^  who  have  many 
of  them  bjen  sufferers  in  a  great  measure  already,  and  like 
more  to  undergoe,  if  not  timely  prevented." 

This  strikes  first  at  the  sedition  act,  and  then  at  the 
tax  law,  including  the  purposes  for  which  the  rate  was 
laid.  Accordingly,  the  sedition  act  was  first  repealed,  the 
appointment  of  Clarke  as  agent  to  England,  and  the  taxes 
for  that  object,  were  cancelled,  the  schedule  of  salaries 
was  then  rescinded,  leaving  them  as  fixed  by  the  old  law, 
the  commission  upon  waste  lands  in  Narraganset  w^as  re- 
voked, as  if  it  contemplated  a  forced  sale  by  the  owners  to 
the  colony,  the  confiscation  of  estates  in  Westerly  was  de- 
clared void,  and  finally,  upon" a  complaint  made  by  Arthur 
Fenner,  a  censure  was  passed  upon  the  Ai)ril  Assembly, 
for  having  sanctioned  the  second  election  of  deputies  in 
Providence,  after  it  was  found  that  those   first   elected 


15 


WARWICK     RESOLVES    TO     RESIST    CONNECTICUT.  359 

could  not  attend.     The  bitterness  of  party  spirit  could  go  chap. 
no  farther,  and  the  Assembly  adjourned.  ^— U-- 

But  the  conduct  of  the  Assembly  was  severely  con-  16  7  2 
demned  in  some  portions  of  the  colony.  The  Assistants 
and  deputies  of  Warwick  dissented,  in  behalf  of  their 
town,  from  the  action  in  reference  to  Connecticut.  To 
them  it  appeared  like  a  concession  of  rights  that  was  not 
to  be  tolerated.  The  town  sustained  the  views  of  its  rep-  3. 
resentatives,  and  at  a  full  meeting,  called  for  the  purpose, 
agreed  "  to  oppose  to  the  uttermost  the  intrusions  of  Con- 
necticut," and  engaged,  at  their  own  expense,  with  the  aid 
of  those  freemen  in  the  other  towns,  who  might  be  willing 
to  unite  therein,  to  maintain  the  appeal  to  the  King,  and 
to  send  an  agent  to  England  for  that  purpose.  This  noble 
and  spirited  pledge,  signed  by  all  of  the  town  council,  and 
of  the  freemen  present  at  the  meeting,  is  still  preserved  in 
the  records  of  that  ancient  town. 

The  declaration  of  war  with  Holland  caused  meetings 
of  the  councO,  at  which  measures  were  taken  to  proclaim  16, 
it  in  all  the  towns,  and  afterward  to  place  the  colony  in  a 
posture  of  defence.  Richard  Smith  was  intrusted  with  "^ 
these  duties  in  Kings  Province.  Letters  to  the  other  New 
England  colonies  were  also  prepared,  proposing  a  confer- 
ence on  these  matters,  as  suggested  in  the  King's  letter. 

A  new  subject  of  agitation  now  arose.  Ehode  Island 
had  long  been  taunted  by  her  Puritan  neighbors,  as  the 
refuge  of  every  kind  of  religious  or  political  vagary.  In 
the  fierce  persecution  to  which  the  Quakers  had  been  sub- 
jected, she  offered  a  free  asylum  to  the  oppressed,  and  re- 
sisted alike  the  threats  and  the  entreaties  by  which  it  was 
souo-ht  to  force  her  from  her  fidelitv  to  the  cause  of  relig- 
ious  freedom.  The  security  which  this  firmness  afforded 
to  the  preachers  of  the  new  sect,  led  Rhode  Island  to  be- 
come a  favorite  resort  of  many  of  the  followers  of  Fox,  who 
came  hither  from  England  and  Barbadoes,  to  disseminate 
their  doctrines,  as  from  a  central  point  whence  they  might 


July. 


360  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE   OF    EHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  easily  make  excursions  in  all  directions  through  the  Amer- 
^^:^  ican  colonies.  Their  great  leader  himself  spent  two  years 
1  6  7  2.  in  America,  and  was  at  this  time  in  Khode  Island,  to- 
' "  getber  with  Edmundson,  Burnyeat,  Stuhbs,  and  Cart- 
wright,  all  active  and  eloquent  missionaries  of  the  new 
faitli.  Everywhere,  except  in  Rhode  Island,  toleration  of 
doctrine  implied,  in  the  main,  concurrence  of  sentiment. 
Hence  it  was  asserted  that  the  public  feeling  of  this  colony 
was  friendly  to  the  theology  of  Fox,  and  the  assertion  car- 
ried greater  weight  because,  at  this  time,  some  of  the  mag- 
istrates were  of  that  sect.  Roger  "Williams,  as  the  peculiar 
champion  of  intellectual  freedom,  wished  to  give  evidence 
at  the  same  time,  of  the  devotion  of  his  colony  to  the  cause 
of  "  soul  liberty,^'  and  of  their  dissent  from  the  teachings 
of  George  Fox.  "  I  had  in  my  eye  the  vindicating  of  this 
colony  for  receiving  of  such  persons,  whom  others  would 
not.  We  suifer  for  their  sakes,  and  are  accounted  their 
abettors."  How  could  he  better  effect  this  object  than  by 
showing  that  the  new  doctrine  was  not  generally  accepted 
in  Rhode  Island,  although  its  followers  were  not  only  pro- 
tected here,  but  were  admitted  to  the  highest  places  of 
j5  government  .^  For  this  purpose,  Williams  drew  up  a  pa- 
per containing  fourteen  propositions,  denouncing  in  strong- 
est terms,  the  tenets  of  Quakerism,  and  challenged  Fox 
and  his  adherents  to  a  j)ublic  discussion  of  seven  of  these 
points  at  Newport,  and  of  the  remainder  at  Providence. 
For  this  he  has  been  charged  with  inconsistency,  and  ac- 
cused of  persecuting  the  Quakers  !  In  our  day  there 
appears  indeed  to  be  more  of  zeal  than  of  wisdom  in  the 
conduct  of  this  controversy.  Yet,  although  he  stren- 
uously condemned  the  teachings  of  the  Friends,  and  per- 
formed a  marvellous  feat  of  physical  and  mental  labor  to 
oppose  them,  he  would  have  laid  down  his  life  sooner  than 
have  a  hair  of  their  heads  injured  on  account  of  their  doc- 
trinal views.  The  qualities  that  enabled  him  to  accom- 
plish the  one  wovild  have  sustained  him  equally  in  the 


WILLIAMS'    DEBATE    WITH    THE    QUAKERS.  361 

other.     It  should  be  remembered  also  that  these  public  chap. 
disputes,  upon  points  of  dogmatic  theology,  were  as  com-  ^^,1^,:^ 
mon  in  Europe  and  America,  in  those  times,  as  political  16  7  2. 
discussions  are  in  our  own  day.     In  Germany  especially, 
for  more  than  a  century,  they  had  furnished  the  arena  for 
those  brilliant  displays  of  intellectual  gladiatorship  which, 
in  the  progress  of  civilization,  had  succeeded  the  martial 
strifes  of  the  feudal  ages. 

The  challenge  was  sent,  through  some  friends  of  Fox, 
to  Deputy  Governor  Cranston,  to  be  delivered  by  him  to 
the  Quaker  apostle.  Several  days  elapsed  before  Crans- 
ton received  it,  and  meanwhile  Fox  had  left  the  island.  26. 
Just  before  his  departure  he  wrote  a  singular  paper  to 
Thomas  Olney,  jr.,  and  John  Whipple,  jr.,  at  Providence, 
known  as  "  George  Fox's  instructions  to  his  friends," 
which  was  answered  with  unseemly  severity,  the  follow- 
ing year,  by  Olney,  in  a  lengthy  article  entitled  "  Ambi- 
tion anatomised."  Fox's  departure  excited  a  suspicion 
that  the  challenge  was  purposely  retained  until  he  had 
gone  away,  which  gave  rise  to  an  unbecoming  pun  by 
Williams  about  "  George  Fox's  sHly  departing." 

The  most  remarkable  incident  connected  with  this 


25. 


Aug. 
controversy  was  that  Mr.   Williams,   then  seventy-three       8. 

years  of  age,  rowed  himself  in  a  boat  from  Providence  to 
Newport  to  engage  in  it.     The  effort  occupied  an  entire 
day.     He   reached  his  destination  near  midnight  before 
the  appointed  morning.     The  discussion  was  held  in  the       g 
Quaker  meeting-house  and  lasted  three  days.     His  ojDpo-       to 
nents  were  three  of  the  disciples  of  Fox,  before  named. 
Burnyeat  and  Stubbs  were  able  and  learned  men,  and  all 
of  them  were  well  trained  in  the  school  of  polemic  divin- 
ity.    Williams'  brother  Robert,  then  a  teacher  in  New- 
port, offered  to  aid  him  in  the  discussion,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  his  opponents.     The  first   seven  propositions 
l^eing  concluded,  the  debate  was  resumed  at  Providence      17. 
by  Edmundson  and  Stubbs,  but  continued  only  one  day. 


362  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.    That  no  immediate  good  resulted  from  the  discussion,  or 
^J^^^  that  there  was  more  of  human  frailty  than  of  Christian 
16  7  2.  meekness  displayed  in  the  mode  of  conducting  it,  is  not 
^  "^'    surprising.     But  the  object  of  Williams  was  attained  in 
opposing  what  he  held  to  be  error,  while  defending  the 
principles  upon  which  that  error  was  tolerated,  as'  being 
a  matter  beyond  the  pale  of  human  legislation.' 
July.  A  most  unexpected  invasion  of  the  rights  of  Khode 

Island  occurred  at  this  time.  Among  the  many'worth- 
less  grants  with  which  the  Council  of  Plymouth  overlaid 
their  boundless  dominion,  was  one  to  the  Earl  of  Stirling, 
that  embraced  a  large  part  of  Maine,  and  included  also 
Nantucket,  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Long  Island,  with  the 
adjacent  islands.  This  right  he  afterwards  sold  to  James, 
Duke  of  York,  brother  and  successor  of  Charles  11. ,  on 
whom  the  King,  in  his  reckless  bestowal  of  emj)ire  in  the 
new  world,  likewise  conferred  a  large  portion  of  the  re- 
cent conquests  from  the  Dutch,  including  the  present 
State  called  after  his  title.  Prudence  Island,  originally 
purchased  by  Roger  Williams  and  Gov.  Winthrop,  sen., 
had  long  since  passed  out  of  their  liands,  and  was  now 
the  property  of  John  Paine,  a  merchant  of  Boston.  He 
had  contributed  liberally  to  rebuild  fort  James,  at  New 
25.  York,  and  now  received  from  Gov.  Lovelace,  as  attorney 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  a  grant  of  Prudence  island,  to  be 
held  as  a  free  manor,  by  the  name  of  Sophy  Manor,  for 
an  annual  quit-rent  of  two  barrels  of  cider,  and  six  pairs 
of  capons.     The  following  week  the  grant  was  confirmed, 


1. 


'  We  have  before  had  occasion  to  refer  the  render  to  dull  treatises  upon 
doctrinal  theology,  where  he  may  verify,  if  he  chooses,  the  statements  of  the 
text.  There  are  many  authorities  whence  the  above  account  is  derived, 
which  the  theological  student  or  the  devout  antiquary  can  consult  for  the  de- 
tails of  this  famous  dispute.  Williams'  own  account  is  in  a  book  of  over  300 
pages,  entitled  "  George  Fox  digged  out  of  his  Burrowcs.''  The  opposite 
side  is  given  in  "  A  New  England  Firebrand  Quenched,'"  written  by  Fox  ani 
Burnyeat  in  reply  to  the  foregoing.  See  also  "  A  Jouinal  of  the  Life,  &c.,  of 
William  Edmundson,"  London,  1713;  ''The  Truth  Exalted;"  Burnyeat'8 
Memoir.*,  London,  1691  •  and  Knowles'  Roger  Williams,  pp.  E  36-40. 


PRUDENCE    ISLAND    INDEPENDENT.  363 

and  Paine  was  made  GTovernor  for  life,  with  a  Council  to  chap 

be  chosen  from   the  inhabitants  of  the  island,  of  whom   \:^ 

there  were  now  a  considerable  number,  and  Courts  for  the  1672. 
trial  of  small  causes  were  established,  larger  ones  to  be 
tried  at  the  New  York  assizes.  The  seventh  article  of 
the  constitution  of  government  contained  in  this  grant 
asserted  the  principle  of  religious  freedom,  as  then  under- 
stood abroad,  limiting  it  to  Christians,  and  i-equiring  dis- 
senters to  aid  in  support  of  the  church  established  by  the 
authorities  of  the  place.  On  account  of  further  pay- 
ments made  by  Paine  towards  fort  James  he  was  relieved 
from  quit-rent,  and  the  island  was  released  from  all  taxes. 
The  estate  was  held  by  him  in  fee  simple,  and  was  now 
an  absolutely  independent  government,  the  smallest  in 
America.  A  few  days  later  Paine's  commission  as  Grov- 
ernor  for  life  of  Sophy  Manor  was  confirmed.  It  wOl  be  _ 
seen  that  this  act  of  Lovelace  was  a  great  stretch  of  the 
Stirling  grant,  and  might  with  equal  justice  have  in- 
cluded Acquednick,  as  the  Plymouth  Council  patents 
were  lonjr  anterior  to  the  first  charter  of  Providence  Plan- 
tations.  Prudence  island  had  pertained  to  Portsmouth 
since  the  first  settlement  of  Acquednick. 

This  act  of  intrusion  aroused  the  spirit  of  the  colony 
Paine  was  at  once  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison,  as  ap-  6 
pears  from  the  acts  of  the  Council  of  New  York,  but  was 
discharged  on  baih  He  w^rote  a  long  letter  to  Lovelace, 
giving  an  account  of  the  conflict  of  patents  in  Rhode  Is- 
land^ and  of  his  own  difficulties  from  that  source.  At 
the  Court  of  Trials  he  was  indicted,  under  the  law  of 
1658,  for  attempting  to  bring  in  a  foreign  jurisdiction, 
and  found  guilty.  The  pleadings  are  preserved  among 
the  records  of  New  York.  The  matter  was  finally  settled, 
as  many  other  difficulties  were  in  those  times,  by  tacit 
consent,  without  any  formal  act  of  adjustment,  and  Pru- 
dence island  quietly  relapsed  from  the  condition  of  inde- 


Sept. 


Oct. 
23. 


16. 


6. 


364  HISTORT    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  pendent  sovereignty  to  its  early  dependence  on  the  town 

J[^  of  Portsmouth. 

16  72.  Certain  men  in  Westerly  petitioned  the  Assembly  at 
Hartford  to  be  incorporated  as  a  distinct  plantation,  and 
to  be  released  from  fines  incurred  and  from  taxes  for  one 
year.  To  this  it  was  answered,  that,  being  a  part  of 
Stonington,  the  first  request  could  not  be  granted,  but 
that  the  fines  should  be  remitted,  and  also  the  colony  tax, 
but  not  the  town  rate  or  the  minister's  dues. 

Nov.  The  General  Assembly  incorporated  Block  Island,  and 

at  the  request  of  the  inhabitants  named  it  New  Shore- 
ham,  "  as  signs  of  our  unity  and  likeness  to  many  parts 
of  our  native  country."  The  freemen  were  authorized  to 
choose  two  Wardens,  who  should  have  the  power  of  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace,  and  to  add  three  other  good  men  to 
compose  the  town  Council,  who  were  to  hold  quarterly 
meetings,  to  see  that  a  registry  of  births,  marriages  and 
deaths  was  kept  by  the  Clerk,  and  to  conduct  the  trial  of 
causes  under  five  pounds.  The  town  was  to  send  two 
Dejjuties  to  the  Assembly,  which  had  not  been  done  since 
the  year  the  island  was  annexed  to  the  colony,  and  was 
not  done  for  some  years  after  this  time.  New  Shoreham 
thus  became  the  sixth  town  received  into  the  colony,  and 
was  in  reality  at  this  time  the  fifth,  since  the  controversy 
with  Connecticut  had  practically  withdrawn  Westerly 
from  all  participation  in  colonial  affairs. 

The  care  of  our  ancestors  to  prevent  any  important 
act  from  becoming  a  law,  without  a  fair  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  people,  has  been  often  illustrated  in  the  course 
of  this  work.  The  neglect  of  deputies  to  attend  the 
General  Assembly  led  to  further  legislation  on  this  sub- 
ject. As  the  charter  vested  the  full  powers  of  the  As- 
sembly in  the  Governor  and  Council  in  cases  of  invasion, 
it  was  enacted,  that  in  sudden  emergencies  of  this  sort 
the  acts  of  the  Assembly  should  be  binding  although  but 
few  deputies  were  present ;  but  as  the  bill  of  rights  of 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  365 

third  Charles  I.,  protected  the  subject  from  any  tax  not  chap. 
levied  by  consent  of  Parliament,  it  was  declared  that  no 
rate  should  be  assessed  upon  the  colony  without  a  full 
representation  from  all  the  towns  ;  neither  could  any  act 
affecting  the  King's  honor,  or  the  people's  liberties,  be 
valid  unless  a  majority  of  the  deputies  were  present.  The 
pay  of  the  deputies  was  reduced  to  two  shillings  a  day, 
and  the  fine  for  absence  from  any  Assembly  was  laid  at 
twenty  shillings,  or  double  that  amount  if  a  quorum  was 
not  present.  The  deputies  were  also,  for  the  first  time, 
required  to  take  an  engagement,  to  be  administered  by 
the  Governor,  upon  entering  on  the  duties  of  their  office. 
This  was  an  innovation  that  met  with  strenuous  opposi- 
tion from  the  mainland  towns.  The  owners  of  the  Ath- 
erton  purchase  petitioned  for  relief  from  the  law  by  which 
their  land  was  forfeited.  Their  prayer  was  granted,  by  a 
repeal  of  the  act  so  far  as  it  applied  to  their  direct  pur- 
chase. Their  title  was  confirmed,  with  a  proviso  that  no 
lawful  complainant  should  be  debarred  from  his  right  of 
action  by  any  thing  contained  in  the  said  act  of  confirma- 
tion. 

It  would  seem  that  the  separate  powers  of  the  magis- 
trates were  not  distinctly  defined  or  well  understood,  for 
a  censure  was  passed  upon  John  Greene,  Assistant  of 
Warwick,  for  having  granted,  by  his  own  authority,  a  bill 
of  divorce.  This  proceeding  was  sharply  reproved  by  the 
Assembly,  as  being  a  usurpation  of  judicial  power  in  su- 
perseding the  action  of  the  Court  of  Trials.  The  town  1672.J 
of  Warwick  declared  the  divorce  to  be  legal,  and  pro-  ^3 " 
tested  against  this  censure  upon  their  leader,  and  also 
against  the  acts  in  favor  of  the  Atherton  company,  and 
that  requiring  the  engagement  to  be  taken  by  the  depu- 
ties, as  being  repugnant  to  the  accepted  law  of  the  col- 
ony. A  remonstrance  ftrepared  by  the  clerk  was  adopted 
at  a  special  town  meeting,  and  copies  were  ordered  to  be 
sent  to  the  other  towns  and  to  the  General  Assembly. 


366  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

When  this  body  met,  the  Warwick  deputies  refused  to 
take  the  engagement,  although  all  the  others  conformed 
to  the  new  law.  Governor  Easton  was  re-elected.  For  the 
office  of  deputy  Governor,  four  persons  were  successively 
chosen  and  declined,  until  William  Coddington  accepted. 
This  was  the  first  public  offic^e  he  had  held  since  the  usur- 
pation, except  that  once  he  had  been  a  deputy,  and  then 
an  Assistant  from  Newport.*  Richard  Smith  was  again 
chosen  an  Assistant,  but  declined,  having  then  in  ^iew  the 
acceptance  of  an  appointment  from  Connecticut.  The 
change  in  the  list  of  Assistants  was  as  great  as  it  had  been 
at  the  former  election,  but  three  of  the  old.  set  remaining. 
William  Harris  having  cleared  himself  of  the  charges 
against  him,  and  given  satisfaction  to  the  Court,  was  again 
elected  an  Assistant.  Of  the  old  deputies  less  than  one- 
half  were  returned.  The  general  officers  remained  nearly 
as  before.  The  only  act,  worthy  of  notice,  was  the  apj)oint- 
ment  of  a  committee  to  consult  with  aU  the  chief  sachems 
upon  some  means  for  preventing  the  excess  of  drunkenness, 
to  which  the  Indii;.ns  were  addicted. 

The  Connecticut  Assembly  again  appointed  resident 

magistrates  in  Kings  Province,  and  made  Richard  Smith 

president  of  the  court  thus  erected. 

jniy  The  capture  of  New  York  by  a  Dutch  fleet,  caused  a 

^^-      special  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  provide  against 

an  expected  assault  upon  this  colony.     A  pension  act  was 

.         passed  for  the  relief  of  those  who  might  be  wounded  in  the 

13.     war,  or  of  the  families  of  the  slain,  who  were  to  apply  to 

the  general  Treasurer  for  necessary  support,,  and  if  they 

failed  to  obtain  it  from  him,  they  were  to  have  an  action 

of  debt  against  him,  to  be  prosecuted  in  their  behalf,  by 

the  proper  officers,  free  of  charge.     An  exemption  act  was 

likewise  passed  in  favor  of  those  whose  consciences  were 

opposed  to  war.     A  very  long  and  curious  preamble  recites 

the  scriptural  and  other  arguments  against  war,  by  reason 

'  In  1666  he  was  deputy,  and  in  1667  an  assistant. 


15. 


EXEMPTION    ACT. SUXDAf    LAW. INDIAN    JURY.  367 

of  which  the  Quakers  were  excused,  with  a  proviso  requir-  chap. 
ing  them  to  do  civil  duty,  in  removing  the  sick  and  aged,  ..^.,1^ 
and  valuable  property,  out  of  harm's  way,  in  keeping  watch,  16  73. 
although  without  arms,  and  in  performing  any  other  duty 
of  a  civil  nature  that  might  be  required  by  the  magis- 
trates. At  the  next  session,  these  acts  were  confirmed,  and  Sept. 
a  lengthy  statute  against  selhng  liquor  to  the  Indians,  was 
passed.  The  committee  on  this  subject  had  considted 
with  the  sachems,  at  whose  request  heavy  penalties  were 
imposed  upon  Indians  found  drunk,  as  well  as  on  the  deal- 
ers who  made  them  so.  A  Sunday  law  was  enacted  to  re- 
strain gaming  and  tipphng  on  that  day,  but  with  careful 
reservations,  for  the  liberty  of  conscience,  that  the  act 
should  not  be  construed  as  enforcing  attendance  upon,  or 
absence  from  religious  services.  The  quaintness  of  many  of 
these  early  statutes  is  not  mor6  "remarkable  than  the  ear- 
nestness with  which  they  insist  that  nothing  therein  con- 
tained shall  be  construed  as  permitting  any  violation  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  colony.  The  preambles  to 
the  exemption  act,  and  to  the  Sunday  law,  are  striking  ex- 
amples of  this  watchfulness. 

The  last  two  had  been  extra  meeting-s  of  the  Assembly. 
These,  although  of  frequent  occurrence,  never  superseded 
the  regular  sessions  prescribed  in  the  charter,  although  but 
a  few  weeks,  or  even  days,  sometimes  intervened.  An  In- 
dian being  about  to  be  tried  for  the  murder  of  another,  the 

Assemblv  ordered  that  one-half  the  iurv  should  be  com-     Oct. 

.   "  29 

posed  of  Indians,  and  that  Indian  testimony  might  be  re- 
ceived in  such  cases,  which  was  not  allowed  when  English- 
men were  the  sole  parties.  The  accounts  of  John  Clarke 
had  not  yet  been  settled.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
was  claimed  by  him,  "i.-.  still  due  from  the  colony.  AVil- 
liam  Harris  was  empowered  to  negotiate  with  Dr.  Clarke, 
in  writing,  upon  this  mattei.  to  examine  the  items  of  the 
claim,  and  to  report  to  a  tutur'^  Assembly. 

At  the  next  general  election,  William  Coddington  was 


368  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

chosen  Grovernor  and  John  Easton  deputy  Governor.     The 
offices  of  Treasurer  and  Attorney  General  were  united  in 
1674.  Peter  Easton,  the  late  Treasurer,  his  brother,  the  late  At- 

qJ  torney,  being  now  deputy  Governor,  The  Assistants  re- 
mained nearly  the  same.  The  deputies  were  always  chang- 
ing more  or  less.  The  office  was  esteemed  a  burden,  which 
but  few  would  assume  for  more  than  one  or  two  sessions  as 
required  by  law. 

The  people  of  Narraganset  felt  the  want  of  certainty 
in  their  condition  of  Government,  and  desired  the  Assembly 
to  settle  this  point,  for  which  purpose  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed. It  was  quite  common  for  the  Assembly  to  take  a 
recess  of  several  days,  in  which  the  Court  of  Trials  was  held. 
This  was  now  done,  and  at  the  remeeting,  the  difficulties 
which  the  conflict  of  jurisdiction  caused  in  the  business  of 

18.  the  Courts,  led  to  the  passage  of  an  act,  by  which  any  per- 
son summoned  as  a  witness  was  freed  from  liability  to  ar- 
rest, during  his  attendance  on  the  court. 

The  events  of  this  year  were  few  and  unimportant. 
The  news  of  peace  between  England  and  Holland  removed 
the  chief  source  of  solicitude  to  the  colonists.     The  Con- 

20.     necticut  Assembly  confirmed  the  Massachusetts  grants  of 
land  in  Westerly  to  Harvard  college,  and  to  divers  individ- 
uals, and  also,  upon  petition  of  Wickford  men,  established 
a  Court  there,  and  soon  proclaimed  the  same  in  due  form 
June    at  that  place,  and  afterwards  appointed  a  Court  to  meet 
Q  ■      at   Stonington,  in   behalf  of  the  people   of  Narraganset, 

8.  which  was  never  held.  ^  These  demonstrations  were  lightlj 
regarded,  and  were  effectually  met  by  the  Governor  and 
council,  who  proceeded  to  Narraganset,  and  established  the 
township  of  Kingston  ;  which  act  was  approved  by  the 

^^'  Assembly,  and  Kingston  was  incorporated  as  the  seventh 
town  of  the  colony,  upon  the  same  terras  with  New  Shore- 
ham.  The  excise  of  liquors  which,  by  an  old  law,  j)ertained 
to  each  town,  was  now  ordered  to  go  into  the  general  treas- 

■  Couu.  Col  Rec,  ii.  227,  231,  246. 


MASSACRE    AT    SWANZEY.  369 

ury,  and  was  to  be  formed  out  to  an  officer  engaged  for  chap. 
the  purpose,  who  might  regulate  the  quantity  to  he  used,   .^i^l^ 
The  probate  of  wills,  which  heretofore  had  been  in  the  head  16  74. 
officer  of  the  town,  was  at  this  session  vested  in  the  town 
councils. 

At  the  next  general  election,  the  same  officers  were  i6  75, 
continued  with  uncommon  unanimity.  The  only  subject  ^^y 
of  interest  that  was  acted  upon,  was  that  of  weights  and 
measures.  These  were  ordered  to  be  procured  of  the  Eng- 
lish standard,  and  one  man  in  each  town  was  to  inspect 
and  to  seal  with  an  anchor,  all  that  were  in  use,  in  confor- 
mity therewith. 

The  quiet  that,  for  the  past  few  months,  had  every 
where  prevailed,  was  not  unlike  that  ominous  calm  which, 
in  the  natural  world,  so  often  precedes  some  fearful  con- 
vulsion of  the  elements.  Slowly,  but  surely,  for  many 
years,  the  storm  of  Indian  war  had  been  gathering.  At 
times  the  clouds  had  loomed  above  the  horizon,  and  the 
mutterings  of  discontent  had  warned  the  colonists,  as  the 
rumbling  of  distant  thunder  foretells  the  approaching 
tempest.  We  have  seen  how  active  preparations  wese 
made  at  such  times  to  avert  the  danger,  and  with  apparent 
success.  But  the  clouds  were  only  broken,  not  dispersed. 
An  unusual  period  of  peace  had  lulled  to  fancied  security 
the  unsuspecting  English  ;  but  this  time  had  been  em- 
ployed by  the  great  leader  of  the  native  tribes  in  perfect- 
ing his  secret  plans.  The  moment  had  now  arrived  when 
the  terrible  truth  should  be  revealed.  The  massacre  at 
Swanzey  startled  all  New  England  with  the  fearful  ven- 
geance that  for  years  had  been  brooding  in  the  dark  mind 
of  Philip  of  Pokanoket. 

Three  men,  remarkable  in  the  history  of  Khode  Island 
as  pioneers  of  the  infant  settlements,  passed  away  as  the 
clouds  of  war  arose  to  threaten  the  destruction  of  their  life 
labors.     William  Blackstone  deceased '  but  a  few  days  be- 

*  May  26th,  1675,  ante,  chap.  iv. 
VOL.  I.— 24 


370  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  fore  his  dwelling,  on  the  banks  of  the  Seetonk,  was  de- 
,^^^^;^  stroycd  by  the  savages.  John  Weeks,  one  of  the  founders 
16  7  5.  of  Warwick,  was  butchered  by  the  Indians  at  the  com- 
mencement of  hostilities,  and  Governor  Nicolas  Easton 
died  soon  after  at  Newport.  He  was  indeed  a  pioneer. 
In  the  spring  of  1634  '  he  landed  in  New  England  with 
his  two  sons,  Peter  and  John,  and  the  following  spring 
they  commenced  the  settlement  of  Agawam,  or  Newberry. 
Three  years  later,  they  built  the  first  English  house  in 
Hampton,  whence  they  removed  to  Pocasset,  in  consequence 
of  the  Antinomian  controversy,  the  same  year.  The  next 
spring  they  went  to  Newport,  and  there  again  erected  the 
first  European  dwelling,  and  in  1663,  they  built  the  first 
windmill  on  the  island.'^  Governor  Easton  was  several 
times  chosen  an  Assistant,  and  was  for  two  years,  prior  to 
the  usurjiation  of  Coddington,  President  of  the  colony  un- 
der the  first  patent,  and  again  for  the  two  years  previous 
to  his  death,  he  was  elected  Governor  under  the  second 
charter.  His  sons  became  equally  distinguished,  and  to 
one  of  them,  John,  now  deputy  Governor  of  the  colony,  we 
are  indebted  for  an  authentic  history  of  the  war  which  we 
are  about  to  narrate. 


APPENDIX    C. 

EUR0R3  OF  GRAHAME  AND  CHALMERS. 

'^Pl''  Grahame  in  his  History  of  North  America,  vol.  i.  p. 

373,  edition  1833,  says  : — 

'•  The  colony  of  Rhode  Island  had  received  the  tidinjrs  of  the  res- 
toration with  much  real  or  apparent  satisAxction.     It  was  hoped  tliat 

•  May  Uth,  1634. 

"  "These  facts  are  chiefly  taken  from  marfrlnal  notes  In  the  handwriting  of 
Peter  Eaaton,  In  an  old  copy  of  Morton's  Memorial,  now  owned  by  his  d«« 
•oendnnt,  J.  Alfred  Hazard,  Eiq.,  of  Newport. 


EERORS  OF  GRAHAME  AND  CHALMERS.  371 

the  suspension  of  its  charter  by  the  Long  Parliament  would  more 
than  compensate  the  demerit  of  having  accepted  a  charter  from  such 
authorit}^ ;  and  that  its  exclusion  from  the  confederacy  of  which  Mas- 
sachusetts was  the  head,  would  operate  as  a  recommendation  to  royal 
favor.  The  King  was  early  proclaimed  ;  and  one  Clarke  was  soon  af- 
ter sent  as  deputy  from  the  colony  to  England,  in  order  to  carry  the 
dutiful  respects  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  to 
solicit  a  new  charter  in  their  favor.  Clarke  conducted  his  negotiation 
with  a  baseness  that  rendered  the  success  of  it  dearly  bought.  He 
not  only  vaunted  the  loyaltj^  of  the  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island, 
while  the  only  proof  he  could  give  of  it  was,  that  they  had  bestowed 
the  name  of  Kings  Province  on  a  territory  which  they  had  acquired 
from  the  Indians ;  but  meeting  this  year  the  deputies  of  Massachu- 
setts at  the  Court,  he  publicly  challenged  them  to  mention  any  one 
act  of  duty  or  loyalty  shown  by  their  constituents  to  the  present  King 
or  his  father,  from  their  first  establishment  in  New  England.  Yet  the 
inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island  had  taken  a  patent  from  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment in  the  commencement  of  its  struggle  with  Charles  II.,  while 
Massachusetts  had  declined  to  do  so  when  the  Parliament  was  at  the 
height  of  its  power  and  success." 

In  the  London  edition,  1836,  p.  315,  some  slight  ver- 
bal alterations  appear  in  the  above  passages,  which  do  not 
affect  their  purport.  In  the  revised  American  edition  the 
word  "  baseness"  is  changed  to  the  expression  "  supple- 
ness of  adroit  servility,"  which  is  equally  inaccurate  and 
unjust.  The  harsh  charge  here  laid  upon  Dr.  Clarke  was 
rebutted  by  Mr.  Bancroft  in  a  note  to  chap.  xi.  vol.  ii.  p. 
64,  edit.  1837,  of  his  History  of  the  United  States, 
wherein  he  says  :  "  the  charge  of  baseness  is  Grahame's 
own  invention,"  an  expression,  perhaps,  in  itself  too  se- 
vere to  apply  to  the  learned  and  friendly  Briton,  who 
Mr.  Bancroft  in  the  same  note  says,  "  is  usually  very  can- 
did in  his  judgments,"  since  the  accusation  of  "  baseness" 
was  not  invented  by  Grahame,  but  was  evidently  the  result 
of  his  misapprehension  of  the  authority  he  cites — the 
partisan  historian  Chalmers.  After  the  emendation  ap- 
peared in  the  revised  edition,  Mr.  Bancroft,  in  1841,  soft- 
ened the  charge  of  invention  to  that  of  "  unwarranted  mis- 
apprehension," in  which  he  is  fully  sustained  by  the  facta. 


372  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE    OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

This  note  occasioned  a  prolonged  controversy  between  Mr, 
Bancroft  and  Mr.  Quincy,  the  American  editor  of  Gra- 
haine's  history,  upon  the  merits  of  which  we  do  not  pro- 
pose to  touch,  only  so  far  as  injustice  has  been  done  therein 
to  Rhode  Island,  in  the  attempt  to  display  the  superior 
honesty  and  candor  of  the  Massachusetts  agents  at  the 
expense  of  Clarke.  The  passages  in  Chalmers'  ^Political 
Annals,  Book  I.  chap.  xi.  p.  273,  274-6,  cited  by  Grra- 
hame,  as  his  authority  for  the  above  quoted  remarks  on 
Rhode  Island,  read  as  follows.  After  referring  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  Rhode  Island  from  the  New  England  league, 
owing  to  the  dislike  felt  in  Massachusetts  for  her  liberal 
principles,  he  says  : — 

"  Necessity  therefore  obliged  them  to  provide  for  their  security  by 
other  means.  They  cultivated  the  friendship  of  the  neighboring  sa- 
chems with  the  greatest  success  ;  whereby  they  acquired  considerable 
influence  over  their  minds,  which  was  of  considerable  importance. 
And  that  ascendancy  they  employed,  during  the  year  1644,  to  procure 
from  the  cliiefs  of  the  Narragansets  a  formal  surrender  of  their  coun- 
try, which  was  afterwards  called  the  Kings  Province,  to  Charles  I., 
in  right  of  his  crown,  in  consideration  of  that  protection  which  the 
unhappy  monarch  then  wanted  for  himself.  Yet  no  measure  could 
be  more  offensive  to  Massachusetts,  or  could  provoke  more  her  resent- 
ment ;  because  it  was  equally  inconsistent  with  her  usual  practice  and 
present  views  of  acquiring  the  subjection  of  the  same  territory  to  her- 
self. The  deputies  of  these  plantations  boasted  to  Charles  II.  of  the 
merits  of  this  transaction,  and  at  the  same  time  '  challenged  the  agents 
of  Boston  to  display  any  one  act  of  duty  or  loyalty  shown  by  theii 
constituents  to  Charles  I.  or  to  the  present  King,  from  their  first  es- 
tablishment in  jSew  England.'  The  challenge  thus  confidently  given 
was  not  accepted."  p.  273.  "  That  event  [the  Restoration]  gave 
great  satisfaction  to  these  plantations,  because  they  hoped  to  be  re- 
lieved from  that  constant  dread  of  Massachusetts  which  had  so  long 
afflicted  them.  And  they  immediately  proclaimed  Charles  II.,  because 
they  wished  for  protection,  and  intended  soon  to  beg  for  favors.  They 
not  long  after  sent  Clarke  as  their  agent  to  the  Court  of  that  mon- 
arch, to  solicit  for  a  patent,  which  was  deemed  in  New  England  so 
essential  to  real  jurisdiction.  And  in  September,  1062,  he  obtained 
the  object  of  his  prayers.  Yet,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  Connecti- 
cut, the  present  charcer  was  not  finally  passed  till  July,  1663." 


ERRORS  OF  GRAHAME  AND  CHALMERS.  37.S 

The  remainder  of  the  reference  contains  an  abstract 
Df  the  charter,  and  some  erroneous  statements  of  the  ac- 
tion had  under  it,  to  which  we  shall  hereafter  refer. 

Now,  admitting,  for  the  moment,  that  Chalmers  is 
good  authority,  which  we  shall  presently  disprove,  so  far 
at  least  as  regards  this  portion  of  his  annals,  an  examina- 
tion of  the  foregoing  quotations  from  the  two  authors  will 
show  that  Mr.  Grahame  has  drawn  two  erroneous  infer- 
ences, not  warranted  by  his  citations,  and  has  stated  them 
as  facts.  First,  that  the  name  of  Kings  Province  was  a 
proof,  and,  as  he  states,  "  the  only  proof"  that  Clarke 
could  give  of  the  "  vaunted  loyalty  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Rhode  Island."  Chalmers,  it  will  be  seen,  says  parenthet- 
ically, that  the  surrendered  country  "  was  afterwards 
called  the  Kings  Province,"  which  is  correct,  but  is  very 
different  from  the  statement  of  Grrahame.  The  fact  is, 
that  the  name  of  Kings  Province  first  appears  in  the  in- 
structions to  the  commissioners;  at  the  head  of  whom  was 
Col.  Nicholls,  who  were  sent  by  the  King  to  visit  New 
England,  and  were  furnished  with  three  sets  of  instruc- 
tions regulating  their  conduct,  one  as  to  Massachusetts, 
one  as  to  Connecticut,  and  the  other  secret,  all  dated  23d 
April,  1664,  and  also  a  commission  to  determine  appeals, 
boundary  disputes,  &c.,  dated  two  days  later.  They  are 
in  New  England  Papers,  bundle  1,  pp.  182-194,  in  the 
British  State  Paper  Office.  Article  3  of  the  set  of  in- 
structions for  Connecticut  relates  to  the  Rhode  Island 
boundary,  a^nd  in  article  4,  referring  to  the  submission  of 
the  Narraganset  sachems,  it  orders  that  if  it  prove  true, 
the  commissioners  should  take  rent  from  the  occupants, 
and  shall  call  the  country  Kings  Province.  This  order 
took  effect  on  20th  March  following,  by  formal  proclama- 
tion of  the  commissioners,  as  appears  in  New  England 
Papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  4,  British  State  Paper  Office,  printed 
in  3  R.  I.  H.  Col.,  179-81.  This  is  the  earliest  mention 
of  the  name  of  Kings  Province,  which  was  given  by  royal 


3.74  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  decree,  nearly  two  years  after  the  Khode  Island  charter 
_i^^  was  issued,  and  in  relation  to  the  time  of  the  submission 
^c^'  ^y  the  sachems  just  twenty  years  "  afterwards."  Upon 
this  point  then  Chalmers  is  correct  and  Grrahame  wrong. 
The  second  false  statement  in  which  Grahame  is  not 
borne  out  by  his  authority  is  that  Clarke  "  meeting  this 
year  (1662)  the  deputies  of  Massachusetts,  challenged 
them  to  mention  any  one  act  of  duty  or  loyalty  sliown  by 
their  constituents."  A  due  attention  to  the  above  ex- 
tract will  show  that  Chalmers  says  no  such  thing.  The 
faulty  connection  of  the  passage  would  perhaps  give  to  a 
cursory  reader  the  idea  received  by  Grahame,  and  very 
distinctly  and  injuriously  perpetuated  by  him.  Chal- 
mers' words  are  obscure,  it  is  true,  relating  to  another  and 
later  affair,  as  will  directly  be  shown  ;  but  certainly  Mr. 
Grahame,  before  thus  cruelly  assailing  Clarke,  should 
have  examined  the  authority  to  which  Chalmers  refers. 
He  would  have  there  found  that  Chalmers'  citation  was 
not  to  Clarke's  conduct,  but  to  a  very  different  point,  and 
he  would  thus  have  been  led  either  to  suspect  the  accuracy 
of  the  Annalist,  or  to  discover  his  own  misapplication  of 
his  language.  Upon  these  two  points,  therefore,  Mr. 
Grahame  has  erred  in  drawing  inferences  that  are  not  sus- 
tained by  his  authorities,  and  as  he  has  thus  done  a  great 
wrong — all  the  greater  from  the  acknowledged  excellence 
of  his  character  and  general  accuracy  of  his  work — we 
have  felt  compelled  to  furnish  what  we  consider  as  the 
proof  of  unpardonable  carelessness  in  a  historian.  The 
only  other  reference  which  he  gives.  Hazard  ii.  612,  is  to 
a  copy  of  the  charter. 

It  really  seems  as  if  Mr.  Bancroft's  charge  of  "  inven- 
tion," or  rather  of  "  unwarranted  misapprehension,"  was 
not  so  unfounded  as  has  been  represented,  or  so  unjusti- 
fiable, when  we  consider  the  pains  that  a  writer  of  history 
is  morally  bound  to  bestow  upon  his  work  before  assailing 
the  private  character  or  the  pubKc  acts  of  any  man  whom  he 


EKRORS  OF  GRAHAME  AND  CHALMERS.  375 

has  occasion  to  mention  ;  and  also  when  we  see,  as  in  these  chap. 
two  points,  how  Mr.  Grahame  has  distorted  the  authority  ^i^ 
upon  which  he  relies.  The  note  and  reference  attached  -^^^'• 
to  this  passage  of  Chalmers,  the  first  one  before  quoted, 
reads  thus  :  "  There  is  a  copy  of  the  Indian  Surrender  in 
New  England  Papers,  bundle  3  ;  and  see  the  same,  p. 
25,"  the  latter  clause  referring  plainly  enough  to  the  doc- 
ument whence  his  extract  is  made.  That  document 
could  be  found  in  five  minutes  by  the  clerks  in  the  State 
Paper  Office,  and  placed  before  any  applicant  authorized 
by  government  to  have  access  to  its  archives.  The  Brit- 
ish Government  are  veiy  liberal  in  granting  jjermission, 
even  to  foreign  students  of  history,  who  apply  for  this 
privilege,  only  limiting  their  range  of  research,  in  the  case 
of  Americans  at  least,  with  the  commencement  of  the 
revolution.  A  British  subject  would,  of  course,  as  easily 
obtain  entrance,  and  without  such  limitation.  That  Mr. 
Grahame  did  not  use  the  privilege  to  verify  his  authority  in 
this  case  is  evident.  The  jiaper  referred  to  is  a  "  Petition 
of  the  Warwick  deputies  (Randall  Holden  and  John 
Greene)  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  together  with  their  reply 
to  the  Massachusetts  agents,"  who  on  the  30th  July, 
1678,  had  answered  a  complaint  made  by  the  Warwick 
men,  wherein  was  exposed  the  former  conduct  of  Massa- 
chusetts toward  Gorton  and  his  company.  The  document 
embraces  four  pages,  24-27  of  the  volume,  or  bundle,  and 
on  page  25,  the  precise  reference  of  Chalmers,  occur  the 
words,  or  nearly  those,  quoted  by  him.  The  aggravated 
circumstances  of  that  case  justified  the  challenge  of  the 
Warwick  deputies,  and  the  silence  of  those  of  Massachu- 
setts, was  a  discreet  reserve  for  which  they  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  receive  the  praises  of  any  man  conversant 
with  the  facts.  Chalmers'  obscurity  and  Grahame's  over- 
sight have  furnished  Mr.  Quincy  with  an  occasion  for  un- 
due elation  in  contrasting  the  conduct  of  the  two  colonies 
at  this  time.     We  only  regret  that  he  should  lend  the 


376  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    sanction   of  his  revered  and   distinguished  name  to  the 
J^^l^   slander  against   Clarke,  and  to  the  defamation  of  Ehode 
^P'-     Island.     (See  3  Mass.  Hist.  Colls.,  vol.  ix.  p.  28,  note, 
and  "  The  Memory  of  the  late  James  Grahame  Vindi- 
cated," 8vo.  59  pp.  Boston,  1846,  passim.) 

If,  as  he  says,  "  The  agents  of  Massachusetts  would 
not  condescend,  for  the  sake  even,  of  saving  their  charter, 
to  feign  a  sentiment  which  they  were  sensible  had  no  ex- 
istence," it  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  the  general  Court 
that  deputed  them,  the  first  article  of  whose  instractions 
to  them  is  to  "  present  us  to  his  Majesty  as  his  loyal  and 
obedient  subjects."  (Hutchinson's  Collections,  355.) 
Whatever  else  we  may  render  to  our  sister  colony  as  her 
just  due,  it  is  not  in  the  qualities  of  honesty  or  of  candor 
that  Rhode  Island  or  John  Clarke  should  yield  the  palm 
to  Massachusetts  or  her  agents. 

We  have  now  to  examine  the  reliability  of  Chalmers 
himself,  with  particular  reference  to  chapter  xi.  on  Rhode 
Island.  No  one  can  read  the  "  Political  Annals"  with- 
out being  impressed  with  the  partisan  spirit  of  that  work. 
If  the  reader  were  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
author's  life,  he  could  scarcely  fail  to  discover  the  ])rinci- 
pal  points  of  it  from  a  perusal  of  his  pages.  The  bitter- 
ness of  the  loyalist  refugee  appears  in  the  title-page,  and 
is  conspicuous  to  the  last  passage  of  his  book.  He  writes 
in  1780,  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been 
four  years  in  operation,  and  but  a  faint  hope  remained 
that  the  prerogative  of  the  crown  could  ever  be  re-estab- 
lished in  America,  and  yet  he  styles  the  country  "  the 
present  United  Colonies,"  and  he  closes  the  volume  with 
a  formal  denial  of  the  "  imniutable  truths "  upon  which 
that  Declaration  is  based.  Whenever  an  opi)ortunity  oc- 
curs to  flout  the  principles  of  freedom  by  maligning  the 
motives  of  its  friends,  he  does  so  with  an  evident  satis- 
faction which  he  takes  no  pains  to  conceal.  An  honest 
regard  to  the  truth  of  history  is  everywhere  secondary  to 


'ERRORS    OF    GRAHAME    AND    OF    CHALMERS.  37*' 

his  hatred  of  civil  and  religious  liljerty.  With  such  sen- 
timents for  a  groundwork  it  is  only  remarkable  that  his 
statements  should  be  received  without  suspicion,  and  his 
ample  references  taken  without  verification  by  writers 
who,  like  Grahame,  are  imbued  with  opposite  opinions. 
The  position  he  held  as  a  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
to  w^hose  custody  the  colonial  archives  were  intrusted, 
and  the  fulness  of  his  references  to  original  papers,  have 
so  long  given  currency  to  his  work  as  the  highest  author- 
ity, that  it  seems  bold  at  this  day  to  question  its  correct- 
ness upon  any  point  of  colonial  history.  Nor  would  the 
writer  venture  to  do  so  now  except  upon  the  clearest  evi- 
dence, and  because  in  the  chapter  that  most  concerns  us 
the  spirit  of  the  author  is  more  than  usually  apparent, 
and  his  erroneous  statements  have  done  more  than  those 
of  all  others  to  misrepresent  the  motives  and  the  conduct 
of  our  ancestors. 

Chalmers  was  born  in  Scotland,  studied  law  in  Edin- 
burg,  emigrated  to  America,  and  practised  at  the  bar  of 
Maryland  for  ten  years.  As  a  stanch  loyalist,  he  re- 
turned home  at  the  time  of  the  revolution.  There  he  de- 
voted himself  to  historical  pursuits.  His  situation  with 
the  Board  of  Trade  was  not  obtained  till  six  years  after 
the  publication  of  the  Annals,  when  it  was  bestowed  as 
a  reward  of  his  loyalty,  and  as  a  comj^ensation  for  the 
sufferings  he  had  endured.  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
he  had  free  access  to  the  colonial  papers  before  his  ap- 
pointment in  that  office.  His  ability  is  unquestionable  ; 
but  the  facts  we  have  stated  require  that  discretion 
should  be  exercised  in  perusing  the  Annals,  and  demand 
the  apx3lication  of  the  severest  canons  of  historical  criti- 
cism, before  receiving  as  truth  the  statements  and  deduc- 
tions therein  presented.  As  a  general  rule,  in  this  case  it 
may  be  said  that  whatever  Chalmers  states  favorably  for 
the  colonists  may  be  relied  upon.  The  evidence  must  be 
very  clear  to  his  mind  when  he  does  so.     Whatever  he 


37S  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  states  as  fact  unfavorable  to  them  requires  that  his  ref'.r- 
^^^..J^^  ences  should  be  verified,  and  if  no  reference  is  given,  the 
■'^^'-  statement  would  more  safely  be  thrown  aside.  Whatever 
he  offers  as  a  deduction  from  stated  facts,  as  philosoj^hy, 
or  as  "  remarks,"  should  for  the  most  part  be  discarded, 
as  being  only  the  reflections  of  a  mind  opposed  at  every 
point  to  the  principles  of  the  colonists,  and  hence  unable 
to  appreciate  their  motives.  And  finally,  those  state- 
ments that  are  susceptible  of  confirmation  by  the  archives 
of  the  plantations,  kept  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  are  in 
the  main  reliable,  while  those  which  could  only  be  verified 
by  the  records  of  the  colonies  themselves,  as  being  chiefly 
matters  of  local  concern,  should  not  be  credited  without 
examination  of  the  original  evidence  in  this  country. 
There  is  not  an  American  colony  that  has  not  sufiered 
injustice  in  some  way  by  this  work,  through  those  who 
have  blindly  relied  upon  its  accuracy  ;  and  none  more  so 
than  Rhode  Island.  To  specify  the  errors  of  fact  and  of 
inference  contained  in  the  single  chapter  upon  this  State, 
would  be  tedious  and  superfluous.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
the  comments  upon  the  charter  near  the  close  of  the  chap- 
ter begin  with  an  error  of  date,  and  are  so  interwoven 
with  misstated  facts  and  partial  truths,  and  so  colored  by 
party  biases,  as  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  whole. 


APPENDIX    D. 

CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN  THE   ATHERTON   COMPANY  AND 
JOHN  WINTHROP,  Jk.,  AGENT  FOR  CONNECTICUT,  IN  LONDON. 

FROM    MSS.    TRUMBULL    PAPERS,    VOL.    XXII.,  NOS.    38,    47    AND    45,   IN    THE    AR- 
CHIVES OF  THE  MASS.  HIST.  SOCIETY. 

I. 

Boston,  29<A  Sept.,  1661. 
Hon'rd   S'. — After   our   senices   presented  to  yo'selfe  we   in;ike 
boulde  to  request  this  favor  to  be  added  to  al  yo'  former,  considering 
it  may  be  for  our  further  comforte  to  have  the  Lands  wee  have  at 


ATHERTON   COMPANY   CORRESPONDENCE.  379 

N'arragansett  in  some  pattent  and  yo'selfe  being  now*  in  England  and    Qg^p^ 
having  an  interest  with  ourselves  therein,  we  conceave  that  if  you       IX. 
could  procure  them  into  Connecticut  pattent  it  would  be  best,  and     ^pp 
therefore  if  you  could  procure  the  line  to  runne  alonge  from  Conecti-        D. 
cot  by  the  Bays  pattent  til  it  meete  with  Plimoth  pattent,  and  then 
by  plimoth  pattent  tile  it  come  into  Naraganset  Bay  and  soe  into  the 
sea,  and  bounded  b}^  the  sea  til  it  meete  with  the  further  parte  of  Co- 
nccticot  jurisdiction  with  all  the  islands  adjoyneing  it  would  reach  ye 
whole.     But  notwithstanding  this  our  advice  wee  desire  to  have  our 
particular  Interest  from  the  Indians  to  be  reserved  to  us  and  onely  y" 
jurisdiction  or  government  to  be  within  Couecticot,  onely  we  leave  it 
to  yo''selfe  which  way  you  finde  most  feaseable  whether  in  Conecticot 
pattent  or  Plimoth  provided  whichever  it  be  our  particular  Interest 
be  reserved  to  ourselves.     If  you  cannot  attain  these  boundes  yet  wee 
desire  if  it  may  be  that  our  particular  lands,  the  propriety  alwaies  re- 
served to  ourselves,  may  be  got  into  Conecticot  pattent,  however  freed 
from  Roade  Island.     Thus  craving  excuse  for  our  bouldness  we  take 
leave,  onely  subscribing  ourselves  yo''  real  servants  apointed  to  sub- 
scribe our  names  in  the  behalf  of  the  rest. 

Edward  Hutchinson  Rich''  Lord 

Will'"  Hudson  Am  Richison. 

The  former  is  what  we  formerly  writ  by  Mr.  Lord  and  not  haveing 
anything  to  add  send  the  same  again,  onely  the  Lord  hath  maide  a  sad 
breach  amongst  us  by  taking  to  himselfe  Maj'  General  Atharton  who 
was  slaine  by  a  fall  from  his  horse. 

flfor  the  Right  Worshipful 

John  Winthrope,  Esqr 

these  present. 

II. 

FROJI    MR    WINTHROP    TO    CAPT.    ED.    HUTCHINSOX. 

Hon^'i  S^ 

According  to  yo""  desires  in  those  Letters  from  yo'self  and  Mr 
Richardson,  and  the  others  of  yo'  Company  (of)  y*"  Plantation  of  Nar- 
ragansett  was  included  within  Connecticott  Charter,  yet  so  as  it  was 
according  to  the  very  words  of  their  old  charter  which  was  to  Narra- 
g.msett  River,  I  had  onely  those  words  put  in  for  Explication  and 
avoiding  controversie  about  the  meaning  of  Narragansett  River  ;  these 
words  are  added  [commonly  called  Narragansett  Bay  where  the  said 
River  falleth  into  the  Sea]  and  by  what  I  saw  of  y'  coppy  of  Provi- 
dence charter  the  words  are  these,  that  the  Whole  Extent  of  y  Tract 
was  about  25  miles,  which  by  calculation  from  y"  further  part  of  Prov- 
idence would  reach  but  to  the  Narragansett  countrey.     ' 


380  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

After  the  Charter  was  under  the  Create  Seale  and  finished  Mr 
Clarke  then  appeared  w""  great  opposition,  as  Agent  for  Road  Island 
Collony,  he  never  before  made  it  known  to  me  that  he  was  agent  for 
them,  nor  could  I  imagine  it  for  a  good  while  after  mj'  arriveale  heere. 
Mr  Alderman  Pcake  told  me  hee  had  Received  Letters  from  Road  Isl- 
and, with  an  Address  Inclosed,  and  was  desired  by  those  Letters  to 
Deliver  y*  Address,  and  afterwards-  told  mee  he  had  procured  Mr 
Mandrick  to  Deliver  it.  I  could  not  by  this  conceive  they  had  any 
other  Agent,  but  waSi  resolved  in  my  Businesse  to  keep  to  y  words  of 
the  old  Pattent,  as  Deere  as  might  be.  I  am  sorrv  there  should  be 
any  Controversye  between  friends.  If  they  had  Desfred  to  have 
Joyned  w"'  our  Collony  I  doubt  not  but  they  might  have  had  all 
Equall  Liberties  with  them.  Mr  Clarke  might  have  done  their  Busi- 
ness before  my  arriveall  or  all  y*  time  since  ;  I  should  not  have  op- 
posed anything  therein,  and  whether  he  had  done  any  thing,  or  were 
about  it,  I  did  not  enquire,  but  that  he  hath  done  nothing  in  it  (if  it 
be  so)  is  not  through  the  least  act  from  myselfe ;  who  only  minded 
our  Businesse  according  to  a  former  Grant :  And  when  y'  was  fin- 
ished then  Mr  Clarke  began  to  stirr  and  oppose  what  he  could,  W''  was 
a  great  wrong  to  y"  hindrance  of  my  voyage.  Why  he  did  not  Rather 
act  about  their  Businesse  before  when  hoe  would  have  none  to  oppose, 
or  all  this  time  when  he  should  have  no  opposition  from  mj-self  or 
any  other,  but  so  act  onely  by  making  a  Controversye  after  our  Busi- 
nesse was  finished  I  know  not  y*  Reason.  I  desire  v"  to  present  my 
Remembrances  to  Mr  Brenton  and  Mr  Arnold  and  Mr  Williams  and 
our  friends  of  those  parts,  and  let  them  know  that  this  is  the  whole 
truth  of  the  Businesse,  however  Mr.  Clarke  tnay  Represent  itt  to  them  ; 
they  are  friends  that  I  alwaj'e  did  and  doe  Respect  and  Love  and  had 
not  the  least  Intent  of  wronging  them.  Intending  onely  that  serv'ce 
to  the  Collony  to  their  old  charter  w^''  they  had  purchased  At  a  great 
price,  and  according  to  the  Desires  of  yo'selves  the  Purchasers  of  that 
in  Narragansett. 

I  shall  not  add  at  present  by  (but  ?)  my  love  and  respects  to  yo'- 
selfe  and  Mr  Smith  and  the  rest  of  yo'  Company,  and  Rest 

Your  Loveing  friend 

John  Winthrop. 

Ln"  September  2,  1GG2. 

For  Capt.  £dw.  Hutchinson 

at  Narragansett. 

III. 

FROM    CAPT.    HCTCHINSON    TO    MR.    WINTHROP    IN    LONDON. 

Boston,  IS,  9  m.  16C2. 
Honn"*  Si. — Wee  have  Received  yo"  from  London.     We  thought 
good  to  send  you  a  copy  of  what  wee  sent  to  Connecticot  to  consider 


ATHERTON    COMPANY    CORRESPONDENCE.  381 

of,  onely  wee  think  good  to  add,  y'  wee  are  bold  to  presume  you  doe  ^jj^p 
not  consider  y'  what  you  have  procured  in  y"*  Charter  Reaches  the  IX. 
AVhole  of  y«  Narragansett  Countrey,  and  Whereas  you  speake  of  25  ^^^[^^ 
miles  wee  understand  not  yo''  meaning,  for  yo'  Pattent  and  Plimouth  D. 
Joyns  Reaching  both  ye  Narragansett  River,  and  whereas  Mr  Clarke 
pretends  a  Pattent.  Wee  have  sent  a  Coppy  of  one  to  the  Massachu- 
setts of  the  same  Land  dated  before  theirs  w^h  answers  theirs,  and 
wee  conceive  may  give  satisfaction.  But,  however,  It  is  necessary  for 
avoyding  Contention  to  yield  no  way  to  Road  Island  for  they  are  not 
Rationall.  It  seems  Mr  Clarke  hath  much  abused  you,  but  I  wonder 
not  at  it,  for  their  Principles  leads  them  to  no  better.  But  for  any 
Tract  of  Land  of  25  miles  there  is  not  any  such  Tract,  for  theire  Pat- 
tent is  bounded  by  the  Countrey  inhabited  by  the  Indians  (though 
after  there  be  an  expres-;ion  reaching  to  Pequod  River)  yet  the  whole 
Countrey  of  a'«  Narragansett  lyes  betwixt  Pequod  River  and  Provi- 
dence w''''  is  Inhabited  by  Indians,  and  therefore  that  Expression  is 
no  better  than  a  Cheate,  for  from  the  outside  of  Providence  bounds  to 
Pequod  River  is  at  least  CO  miles  taking  in  all  the  Indian  Countrey 
w'^''  they  are  not  to  do  by  their  Pattent,  therefore  if  Providence  Town- 
ship and  Road  Island  should  be  granted  a  Pattent  yett  y"  Countrey 
Inhabited  by  Indians  is  Excepted,  which  is  that  wee  have  purchased, 
therefore  wee  are  bold  to  crave  of  you  to  consider  w'  you  yeild  to  be- 
fore you  yeild,  and  w'ever  you  doe  to  Reserve  our  particular  Interest. 
But  if  y'  Providence,  Warwick  and  Road  Island  should  procure  a 
Pattent  for  the  Bounds  of  those  4  Towns  to  come  as  far  as  Warwick 
rails  where  they  now  stand,  and  so  goe  along  by  the  River  pawtucket 
not  by  the  Bay  but  to  ^Varwick  pointe  w ''  will  be  about  20  or  25 
miles  to  Reach  to  Boston  Line  wee  should  not  oppose  w""''  is  indeed 
more  than  anything  they  can  pretend  claime  to.  Thus  not  further  to 
trouble  }'0u  wee  take  our  leave  and  rest 

Yo'  servants  to  our  powers 

Ed.  Hutchinson  by  appointment 

of  the  Company. 

These  letters  are  now  for  the  first  time  printed.  The  first  is  given 
to  show  the  earnestness  of  the  Atherton  company  to  "  be  freed  from 
Rhode  Island,"  whatever  else  might  be  their  lot,  long  before  the  char- 
ters were  obtained.  It  breathes  the  true  spirit  of  Massachusetts  at 
that  day,  and  proposes  a  series  of  boundary  lines  that  would  annihi- 
late the  existence  of  Rhode  Island.  It  refers  to  Mr,  Winthrop's  own- 
ership in  the  purchase,  and  closes  with  the  news  of  the  fatal  accident 
that  terminated  the  life  of  their  gallant  but  unscrupulous  leader. 
From  this  time  the  name  by  which  the  company  was  first  commonly 
called  in  his  honor  was  changed,  in  general  use,  to  that  of  the  Narra- 
ganset  company. 


382  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  second  letter  recites  the  difficulties  which  Winthrop  encoun- 
tered, chief!}-  at  the  hands  of  Clarke,  after  he  had  obtained  the  Con- 
necticut charter.  That  he  should  feel  restive  under  the  delay  that 
Clarke's  opposition  occasioned  was  natural,  but  we  see  no  reason  why 
Clarke  should  have  made  known  his  intentions  in  regard  to  Rhode 
Island  before  he  was  obliged  to  do  so  by  the  course  of  events.  He 
was  surrounded  by  the  agents  of  adverse  interests,  who,  he  had  good 
reason  to  fear,  if  they  faithfully  represented  their  principals,  would 
leave  no  means  untried  that  bitter  hostility  could  suggest,^to  accom- 
plish the  overthrow  of  Rhode  Island.  That  influences  to  this  end 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  Winthrop  the  first  letter  shows,  and  it  is 
due  to  his  purity  alone,  and  not  to  the  justice  or  hohesty  of  his  princi- 
pals and  advisers,  that  the  worst  fears  of  Clarke  were  not  realized. 
Under  such  circumstances  sound  judgment  dictated  the  conduct  of  the 
Rhode  Island  agent  in  kcepii)g  hia  own  councils.  Winthrop's  friendly 
feeling  towards  Rhode  Island  is  seen  at  the  close  of  his  letter  in  his 
message  to  some  of  her  leading  men,  to  whom  he  says  he  intended  no 
wrong,  but  thought  he  was  doing  a  service  to  their  old  charter,  as  well 
as  to  the  Narraganset  company,  in  what  he  had  secured  for  Connecti- 
cut. There  is  no  reference  in  this  letter  to  his  agreement  with  Clarke, 
which  in  fact  was  not  signed  till  seven  months  later,  but  an  allusion  in 
the  next  letter,  which  is  the  reply  of  Hutchinson  to  this  one,  would 
indicate  that  some  compromise  between  them  was  already  in  view,  and 
had  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  probably  through  AVin- 
throp's  official  correspondence  with  Connecticut. 

The  third  letter  displays  the  usual  animosity  of  its  authors  against 
Rhode  Island.  It  is  chiefly  valuable  as  showing,  in  connection  with 
that  portion  of  the  preceding  one  to  which  it  specially  replies,  the  in- 
accurate notions  of  both  the  corresponding  parties  concerning  the 
courses  and  distances  of  the  territory  in  question.  It  will  be  seen 
that  there  is  an  irreconcilable  difference  between  them  on  this  point, 
and  hence  if  either  party  were  correct  in  his  statements  the  other  was 
entirely  wrong.  "Winthrop  is  pretty  nearly  accurate  in  his  distance 
of  twenty-five  miles  "  from  the  further  part  of  Providence  to  the  Nar- 
raganset  countr}-,"  if  he  means  from  Narraganset  Bay  to  Pawcatuck 
river  in  an  east  and  west  course,  which  is  probably  what  he  does  mean, 
as  it  is  upon  that  basis  the  agreement  was  made  and  the  charter  of 
Rhode  Island  was  granted.  Hutchinson,  on  the  contrary^,  is  as  nearly 
correct  in  his  widely  different  estimate  of  distance,  taking  a  north  and 
south,  or  rather  a  northeast  and  southwest  course  from  Providence  to 
Pawcatuck.  So  that  it  is  probable  the  misunderstanding  between  the 
writers  was  in  regard  to  the  courses  i-ather  than  the  distances.  The 
reading  of  each  letter  would  seem  to  convey  the  idea  that  a  north  and 
south  course  was  meant  in  both  cases.  But  if  this  were  so,  Winthrop 
was  very  wide  of  the  mark  and  Hutchinson  pretty  nearly  correct. 


LETTER  FROM  JOHN  SCOT.  383 

Another  remarkable  point  in  this  letter  is  the  allusion  to  the  old   q^xf 
Narraganset  patent  held  by  Massachusetts,  of  which  a  copy  appears       IX. 
to  hare  been  sent  by  the  Atherton  company  to  Mr.  Winthiop.     The    "Tpp" 
references  to  this  ancient  patent  are  very  few,  and  are  almost  always       D. 
merely  incidental,  as  in  this  case,  as  if  no  great  weight  was  attached 
to  it.     AVhy  this  should  be  so  we  cannot  tell,  but  so  it  is.     Every  al- 
lusion to  the  patent  of  Dec.  10th,  1643,  is  worthy  of  notice  from  this 
peculiarit3\      In  its  proper  place,   chapter  iv..  this   subject  is  more 
fully  considered. 

APPENDIX    E. 

LETTER  FROM  JOHN  SCOT,  IN  LONDON,  TO  CAPT.  HUTCHINSON. 

(from  TRCMBCLL  papers,  vol.  XXII.  NO.    35,   M3S.  IN  31ASS.  HIST.  SOC.) 


AprU  29, 1663. 

Mr.  Hutchinson,  and  my  honoured  friend. — 

^Ir.  Winthrop  was  very  averse  to  my  prosecuting  j^o''  affaires,  he 
having  had  much  trouble  with  Mr.  Clarke,  whiles  he  remained  in 
England  ;  but  as  soone  as  I  received  intelligence  of  his  departure  from 
y  Downes,  I  took  into  the  Societye  a  Potent  Gentleman,  and  pre- 
ferred a  Petition  against  Clarke,  &c.,  as  enimyes  to  the  peace  and  well 
being  of  his  Majestyes  good  subjects,  and  doubt  not  of  effecting  the 
premises  in  convenient  tyme ;  and  in  order  to  accomplish  y'  businesse, 
I  have  bought  of  Mr.  Edwards  a  parcel  of  curiosityes  to  y''  value  of 
00  :  to  gratifye  persons  that  are  powerfull,  that  there  may  be  a  Letter 
filled  with  Authorizing  Expressions  to  the  Collonyes  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut,  that  the  proprietors  of  the  Naraganset  coun- 
trye,  shall  not  onlye  hve  peaceablye,  but  have  satisfaction  for  Injuryes 
already  received,  by  some  of  the  saide  Proprietors,  and  the  power 
y'  shall  be  soe  invested  (viz.,)  the  Masachusets  and  Coneticott  by  ver- 
tue  of  the  saide  letter,  will  joyntlye  or  severallye  have  full  power  to 
doe  us  Justice  to  all  intents  as  to  our  Naraganset  concernes.  S^.  Mr. 
Sam"  Sedgwick  disburst  y'  monye,  the  obligation  I  doubt  not  of  sat- 
isfaction of  accnrdinge  to  tyme  which  is  by  March  next  and  by  y'  time, 
or  long  before,  I  doubt  not  of  satisfyinge  yo"^  desires,  or  elce  I  will 
satisfye  y'  saide  Bill  to  Sedgwick  myself  I  cannot  deeme  those  termes 
Mr.  Winthrop  made  with  Clarke  any  waye  to  answere  yo'  desires, 
were  there  a  certaintye  in  what  Clarke  hath  granted. 

Yo'  friend  and  servantt 
uncerimoniouslye 

John  Scott. 


E. 


384  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

The  foregoing  letter  is  the  most  important  evidence 
that  has  yet  been  brought  to  light  upon  this  subject. 
Nothing  could  more  clearly  explain  the  whole  conspiracy 
against  Clarke,  its  authors,  their  plans,  and  the  means 
adopted  to  accomplish  their  purpose.  Their  motive  is 
shown  in  previous  letters,  the  desire  "  to  be  fi-eed  from 
Rhode  Island  "  in  whatever  way,  and  ''  the  way  "  is  here 
explained  after  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  years.  Parties 
who  could  adopt  such  means,  "  uncerimoniouslye,"  in- 
deed, would  hesitate  at  no  other  degree  of  baseness  to 
shield  their  crime.  Why  the  character  of  Clarke  was 
traduced  in  every  mode  that  unscrupulous  corruption 
could  devise,  can  no  longer  remain  a  mystery.  That  the 
slanders  originated  by  these  violators  of  both  moral  and 
statute  law,  and  eagerly  perpetuated  by  their  sympa- 
thizing brethren  in  the  adjoining  colonies,  by  some,  no 
doubt,  through  ignorance,  but  by  all  with  a  zeal  that  does 
no  honor  to  their  hearts,  should  now  be  traced  to  their 
source  after  so  long  an  interval,  must  be  gratifying  to 
those  who  have  steadily  defended  the  purity  of  Clarke  in 
this  matter  of  the  charter,  reasoning  from  his  exalted 
character  in  all  the  other  relations  of  life.  It  furnishes 
one  more  proof  of  the  fact,  that  the  general  character  of  a 
man  is  no  unsafe  criterion  of  his  conduct  in  particular 
circumstances,  and  that  tlie  reputation  which  he  holds  in 
his  own  community  is  a  tolerably  safe  standard  of  his  real 
character.  It  thus  affords  a  triumphant  vindication  of 
what  Mr.  Quincy  (pamphlet  on  Grahame,  p.  36)  is  pleased 
to  term  "  a  studied  eulogy  on  the  general  character  of 
Clarke,"  in  Mr.  Bancroft's  2d  vol.  p.  64,  which  must  be 
grateful  to  that  eminent  historian  who,  in  the  face  of  so 
much  printed  evidence  on  the  other  side,  has  examined 
our  records  for  himself,  and  in  this,  as  in  other  disputed 
points,  has  dared  to  do  Rhode  Island  justice. 

The  letter  opens  with  a  striking  acknowledgment  of 
Winthrop's  purity,  for  although  Winthrop  had  had  diflS- 


scot's  infamy  exposed.  385 

ciilty  with  Clarke,  he  was  so  averse  to  the  writer's  schemes 
that  Scot  dared  not  pursue  them  until  Winthrop  had 
embarked  for  America.  He  then  gave  an  interest  in  the 
company  to  "  a  potent  gentleman/'  preferred  charges 
against  Clarke  and  his  principals  as  enemies  to  the  crown, 
with  what  purpose  is  evident,  and,  these  two  points  se- 
cured, he  doubted  not  of  speedy  success.  But  to  render 
assurance  doubly  sure,  he  adopts  another  form  of  bribery 
to  apply  to  other  powerful  personages,  whose  taste  for  cu- 
riosities he  supposed  to  be  greater  than  their  sense  of  right 
or  their  pride  of  character,  and  invests  the  sum  of  sixty 
pounds  for  that  purpose.  The  object  of  all  this  nice  cal- 
culation was  twofold  ;  to  hide  his  own  infamy  under  the 
ruin  of  Clarke,  and  to  obtain  a  letter  from  the  King  plac- 
ing the  Xarraganset  country  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  Colonies.  No  description  could  be  more  accurate 
in  every  item  than  is  here  given  on  the  29th  April,  of  the 
royal  letter  of  the  21st  June  following. 

Corruption  moved  apace  to  further  the  plans  of  Scot. 
In  seven  weeks  the  character  of  Clarke  was  branded  with 
infamy  to  remote  posterity,  and  the  Atherton  company 
had  accomplished  their  selfish  purposes  by  a  baseness  that 
cannot  easily  be  surpassed.  We  have  no  clue  to  the  mean- 
ing of  the  paragraph  about  Mr.  Sedgwick.  Possibly  it 
relates  to  some  private  matter,  but  not  unlikely  it  refers 
to  some  other  disbursement  in  connection  with  this  nefa- 
rious scheme.  A  letter  of  this  stamp  might  well  be  con- 
fined to  the  one  subject  of  its  infamy.  It  concludes  with 
a  doubt  as  to  Winthrop's  agreement  being  satisfactory, 
even  if  Clarke  were  authorized  to  make  it  ;  and  the  last 
word  it  contains  implies  the  confidential  nature  of  the 
topic  and  the  free  and  easy  character  of  the  writer.  "  Un- 
ceremoniously "  indeed  !  A  cooler  stab  at  all  that  an 
honest  and  honorable  man  holds  most  dear,  or  a  clearer 
exposition  of  successful  bribery  was  never  made  ;  and  but 
for  the  sometimes  dangerous  habit  of  preserving  private 
VOL,  I — 25 


386  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  papers,  which  Capt.  Hutchinson  possessed,  we  might  never 
^^__,  have  known,  in  this  world,  the  secret  and  real  history  of 
^J^^'-    tliis  transaction. 

The  agreement  between  the  two  agents  was  signed  on 
the  7th  April.  That  Winthrop  had  implicit  confidence 
in  Clarke's  honor  is  evident  from  his  embarking  for  home 
immediately  afterwards,  leaving  Clarke,  unfortunately  for 
the  latter  as  it  proved,  still  in  England.  The  above  let- 
ter was  written  on  the  29th  Aj)ril.  The  King'-s  letter  to 
the  United  Colonies,  so  accurately  predicted  and  described 
in  that  of  Scot  was  issued  on  the  21st  of  June,  and  the 
charter  of  Khode  Island  passed  the  seals  on  the  8th  of 
July. 


TREATY    WITH    MASSASOIT.  387 


CHAPTER   X. 

16V5— leTT. 

FROM  THE  COMMEXCEMEXT  OF  PHILIP'S  WAR,  JUNE  1675,  TO  THE 
TRIAL  OF  THE  HARRIS  CAUSES,  NOVEMBER  1677. 

To  trace  the  causes  of  the  most  disastrous  conflict  that 
ever  devastated  New  England,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take 
a  rapid  review  of  the  intercourse  between  the  English  and    i'qYo 
the  Indians  from  the  time  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Shortly  before   this  event,  a  pestilence  had  wasted   the 
strength  of  the  natives  of  this  region,  and  caused  them  to 
become  an  easy  prey  to  the  martial  spirit  of  the  Narragan- 
sets.     Soon  after  their  landing,  Massasoit,  Sachem  of  the 
Wampanoags,  a  powerful  tribe  who  had  formerly  ruled  the 
whole  country  east  of  Narraganset  bay,  and  extending 
north  to  the  territory  of  the  Massachusetts,  but  who  were 
now,  with  their  dependent  tribes,  subject  to  the  conquer-  i6iil. 
ors,  made  a  treaty  with  the  Pilgrims,  which  he  kept  in-   ^^^^^ 
violate  for  forty  years  till  the  time  of  his  death.'     He  left 
two  sons,  Wamsutta,  by  the  English  called  Alexander,  and 

'  In  the  wintsr  of  1661-2,  Drake's  Indians,  B.  3,  ch.  ii.  Various  dates 
from  1656  to  1660  are  assigned  by  different  authors  as  the  period  of  the 
death  of  Massasoit,  but  the  diligence  of  Drake  entitles  his  opinion  to  the 
greatest  weight,  and  the  reasons  given  for  it  in  Book  2,  ch.  ii.,  p.  28,  are  con- 
clusive that  the  death  of  Massasoit  did  not  occur  till  later  than  Sept.,  1661. 


388  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP.  Pometacom  or  Metacomet,  whose  English  name  was  Philip.' 
The  faith  with  which  Massasoit  or  Ousamequin,  as  he  was 
also  called,  maintained  the  treaty  on  his  side,  was  not  so 
well  kept  on  the  other.  He  quietly  submitted  to  repeated 
aggressions  upon  his  land  and  liberties,  and  besides  having 
sold  large  tracts  of  territory  at  various  times  to  the  Eng- 
lish, he  witnessed  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  his  subject 
tribes  to  a  condition  of  independence.  The  fataPalliance 
which  had  released  him  from  his  recent  subjection  to  the 
Narragansets,  was  destined  to  place  a  severer  yoke  upon 
his  own  neck,  to  weaken,  instead  of  strengthening,  his  in- 
fluence over  the  subordinate  tribes,  and  finally  to  effect  the 
extermination  of  his  race.  He  had  several  residences,  the 
principal  of  which,  in  the  town  of  Bristol,  was  called  So- 
wams  by  the  Wampanoags,  and  Pokanoket  by  the  Narra- 
gansets, and  by  the  English  Mount  Hope.  The  decay  of 
the  nation,  and  the  proportionate  increase  of  the  English, 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  two  sons 
of  Massasoit.     Wamsutta,  the  elder,  succeeded  his  father, 

16  62.  but  survived  him  only  a  few  months.  The  manner  of  his 
death  added  to  the  sting  which  the  accumulated  wrongs 
of  forty  years  had  planted  in  the  hearts  of  Philip  and  his 
councillors. 

We  have  seen  that  Massasoit  claimed  portions  of  the 
land  of  Providence,  west  of  Seeconk  river,  and  that  Wil- 
liams and  others  had  satisfied  his  claims,  although  the 
Narraganset  supremacy  was  undoubted,  and  their  Sachems 

*  The  Indians  often  changed  their  names.  Wamsutta  was  first  called 
Mooanam,  and  later  Wamsutta  or  Scpauquet,  both  of  which  latter  names  are 
signed,  together  with  his  English  name,  to  the  dead  of  March,  1661-2,  to 
Providence  men.  Any  great  event  in  Ijfe  seems  to  have  given  occasion  to 
these  changes ;  as  Massasoit,  upon  commencing  his  war  against  the  Narragan- 
sets in  1632,  took  the  name  of  Ousamequin,  by  which  he  was  afterwards 
more  generally  known.  This  custom  complicates  the  difficulties  of  Indian 
history  very  much.  The  English  rames  of  Alexander  and  Philip  were  be- 
stowed on  the  two  young  sachems  at  Plymouth  Court  about  16.'j6,  although 
Mather  says  it  was  not  till  1662  when  the  two  sachems  came  to  Plymcuth. 
Morton's  Memorial,  286-7,  and  Drake,  Book  3,  p.  6. 


WAMSUTTA    OR   ALEXANDER.  389 

had  conve3'^ed   a  clear  title   to  the  original  purchasers.'   chap. 

There  is  reason  for  more  than  suspicion  that  these  claims  ^^ 

were  instigated  by  our  neighbors,  in  their  desire  to  possess  16  6  2. 
themselves  of  an  outlet  to  Narraganset  bay,  and  that  they 
were  not  well  pleased  with  their  faithful  ally  that  he  should 
consent  to  release  his  pretended  right  to  those  who  already 
held  it  from  his  superiors.  Wamsutta  was  associated 
with  his  father  in  the  government  for  some  years  before  the 
death  of  Massasoit,  and  joined  with  him  in  conveying  lands 
to  Plymouth.^  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  became 
the  chief  Sachem,  and  conveyed  to  the  town  of  Providence 
some  land  on  the  west  of  Seeconck  river,  which  had  been 
claimed  by  Massasoit  as  belonging  to  the  Wampanoags.^ 
This  act  was  never  specifically  charged  against  him  as  the 
cause  of  the  harsh  treatment  which  he  received  under  pre- 
tence of  his  plotting  against  the  English,  and  which  re- 
sulted in  his  death  ;  but  in  the  absence  of  any  proof  of  the 
truth  of  those  charges,  and  in  view  of  the  murder  of  Miau- 
tinomi,  a  few  years  before,  whose  greatest  crime  was  his 
kindness  to  Gorton,  and  his  having  sold  Shawomet  to  the 
"  arch-heretic,"  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  deed  of 
sale  was  one  cause  of  the  prejudice  against  him.  He  had 
strengthened  his  position  by  marriage  with  Weetamo, 
squaw  sachem  of  the  Pocassets,  who  inhabited  what  is  now 
Tiverton.  This  was  a  step  towards  restoring  the  ancient 
unity  of  the  tribes,  which  was  still  further  effected  at  a 
later  day,  by  the  marriage  of  Metacomet  with  the  sister 
of  Weetamo. 

It  was  soon  after  the  sale  to  Providence  that  "some 
of  Boston,  having  been  occasionally  at  Narraganset,  wrote 
to  Mr.  Prince,  who  was  then  Governor  of  Plymouth,  that 
Alexander  was  contriving  mischief  against  the  English, 

1  This  satisfaction  occurred  Sept.  10th,  1646.     See  ch.  iv.  ante. 

"^  March  9th,  1653,  these  two  sachems  joined  in  the  sale  of  a  large  tract 
including  Fapasquash  neck.     Drake,  Book  2,  p.  27-8. 

=  The  deed  is  dated  12th  March,  1661-2,  and  is  given  in  Staple's  Annals, 
p.  57i 


390  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  and  that  he  had  solicited  the  NarragansetB  to  engage  with 
._J^_^.  him  in  his  designed  rebellion." '  We  know  that  ''  some 
16  62.  of  Boston "  were  at  this  time  anxious  to  gain  possession 
of  Narraganset,  and  also  that  the  Wampanoags.  claimed 
a  portion  of  that  countrj',  and  had  long  had  a  feud  witli 
Puniham  about  the  lands  of  Shawomet.'^  These  rumors 
furnished  sufficient  grounds  for  the  arrest  of  Wamsutta 
upon  the  chai'ge  of  conspiracy.  Capt.  Willet,  who  resided 
near  Mount  Hope,  was  sent  to  require  his  presence  at  the 
next  Court  at  Plymouth.  He  did  not  aj)pear,  but,  it  was 
said,  continued  his  intercourse  with  the  Narragansets. 
Upon  this.  Governor  Prince  despatched  Major  Josiah 
"Winslow,  afterwards  governor,  with  a  small  force,  to  seize 
Alexander  and  bring  him  to  Plymouth.  Winslow  found 
him  at  one  of  his  hunting  stations,  a  few  miles  distant,  and 
captured  him  without  resistance,  although  the  anger  of  the 
Sachem  at  this  interference  obliged  the  Major  to  adopt  the 
same  resolute  means  resorted  to  by  Atherton  in  his  visit 
to  Pessicus  twelve  years  before,  and  to  present  a  pistol  ut 
his  breast.  The  Sachem  yielded,  and  with  his  whole  train 
of  warriors  and  women,  some  eighty  in  number,  who  were 
allowed  to  accompany  him,  was  carried  a  prisoner  towards 
Plymouth,  and  stop])ed  at  Winslow's  house  in  Marshfield. 
Here  the  haughty  chieftain,  under  the  combined  effects  of 
rage,  fatigue  and  heat,  was  taken  ill.  The  day  was  ver^' 
hot,  and  although  Winslow  offered  his  horse  io  the  Sachem, 
it  was  gallantly  declined,  because  there  were  none  for  his 
squaw  or  the  other  women  to  ride.  On  a-ccount  of  his 
sickness,  his  attendants  entreated  that  he  might  be  sent 
home.  Tliis  was  granted  ujjon  his  i)romise  to  appear  at 
the  next  Court,  and  meanwhile  to  send  his  son  as  a  host- 
age. But  his  death  ensued  almost  immediately.  Hub- 
bard says  he  "  died  before  he  got  half  way  home."  ' 

'  Increase  Mather's  Relation,  p.  70. 

'  President  R.  Williams'  letter  to  Mass.   May,  1656.     Knowles,  290. 
*  Hubbard's  Narrative,  London,  1677,  p.  10.     Mather's  Relation,  p.  70-1 
Bee  also  Davis's  Morton,  287-9,  note,  and  Drake's  Indians,  Book  3,  p.  6-  9. 


PURITAN    DEALINGS    WITH    THE   INDIANS.  391 

Thus  ended  the  brief  and  bitter  reign  of  "VVamsutta,  chap. 
the  eldest  son  and  successor  of  the  earliest  and  firmest  .,J^ 
friend  of  the  Pilgrims.  Dr.  Mather,  in  the  passage  before  16  6  2. 
cited,  accuses  Alexander  of  not  being  "  so  faithful  and 
friendly  to  the  English  as  his  father  had  been."  Forty 
years  had  changed  the  condition  of  the  tribe.  They  were 
no  longer  in  fear  of  the  Narragansets,  from  whose  power 
old  Massasoit  had  sought  refuge  in  a  friendly  alliance  with 
the  white  man.  Yet  during  his  own  life,  he  had  more  than 
once  been  called  on  to  explain  his  conduct.  Their  jealousy 
of  the  natives  was  natural  in  view  of  the  immense  dispar- 
ity of  numbers  between  them  ;  but  had  their  care  in  pre- 
serving the  terms  of  treaties  been  as  great  as  was  that  of 
their  savage  allies  ;  had  there  been  less  of  the  old  theo- 
cratic spirit  of  dominion,  "  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  " 
— '  we  are  the  saints,'  and  more  of  the  religion  they  pro- 
fessed, in  their  dealings  with  the  red  man  ;  had  there  been 
the  same  strict  regard  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  their 
agreements  that  was  shown  upon  the  other  side ;  or  had 
the  temper  of  the  founders  of  Rhode  Island,  in  their  inter- 
course with  the  aborigines,  been  displayed  by  the  other  col- 
onies, there  would  have  been  less  occasion,  perhaps  none  at 
all,  for  the  alarms  that  so  often  distracted  New  England, 
and  the  hope  of  the  old  Canonicus  would  have  been  real- 
ized, "  that  the  English  and  my  posterity  shall  live  in  love 
and  peace  together."  The  jealousy  with  which  the  Puri- 
tan colonies  regarded  the  powerful  Sachems  around  them, 
was  signally  displayed  towards  those  who  showed  kindness 
to  any  whom  they  had  placed  under  the  ban  of  proscrip- 
tion. The  style  of  their  negotiations  with  Canonicus,  the 
clerico-judicial  murder  of  Miantinomi,  the  savage  treatment 
of  Pessicus,  and  now  the  unfeeling  harshness  that  hastened 
the  death  of  Wamsutta,  are  examples  of  this,  which  it  is 
in  vain  that  the  Puritan  writers  attempt  to  justify  or  ex- 
plain. That  Major  Winslow  conducted  himself  with  cour- 
tesy towards  his  royal  captive,  or  that  the  best  medical  at- 


392  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

tendance  and  careful  nursing  was  obtained  for  him  in  hig 
illness,  does  not  palliate  the  manner  of  his  arrest,  or  miti- 
1 1!  G  2.  gate  the  insult  offered  to  a  sovereign  prince  upon  his  na- 
tive soil.  Nor  did  the  peculiar  allies  of  the  Puritans  es- 
cape the  frequent  evidence  of  their  displeasure.  Uncas, 
their  willing  tool,  Pumham,  their  abject  slave,  and  even 
old  Massasoit  their  most  faithful  friend,  were  often  called 
before  their  severe  tribunals,  to  answer  for  suspected  trea- 
son or  alleged  misconduct.  One  cardinal  error  j)revailed 
in  all  their  treatment  of  the  Indians.  They  regarded  the 
submission  of  the  tribes  to  the  British  crown,  always  cheer- 
fully and  often  voluntarily  made,  as  being  an  act  of  sub- 
jection to  themselves.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the 
intention  of  these  haughty  Sachems.  Repeatedly  they 
asserted  that  they  were  the  allies,  not  the  subjects,  of  the 
colonists  ;  but  the  latter,  taking  the  servility  of  Pum- 
ham, himself  a  renegade,  as  the  type  of  the  conduct  they 
desired  from  all,  insisted  upon  a  like  submission  from  his 
superiors,  and  when  this  was  denied,  they  construed  the  at- 
titude of  equality  into  an  act  of  hostility,  and  busied  them- 
selves in  conjecturing  plots  where  none  existed.  This  was 
a  certain  method  of  producing  the  result  they  so  much 
dieaded.  What  was  only  suspected  in  regard  to  Wam- 
sutta  was  clearly  proved,  a  dozen  years  later,  in  the  case 
of  Metacomet. 

The  treatment  of  Alexander  was  openly  condemned, 
even  among  the  Puritans,  for  its  harshness  and  impolicy, 
although  their  own  conduct  towards  Miantinomi  had  been 
if  possible,  yet  more  unjustifiable.  Upon  the  savages,  it 
produced  a  deep  and  lasting  influence.  They  did  not  hes- 
itate to  charge  the  English  with  having  poisoned  their 
victim.  False  as  this  accusation  was,  it  was  less  unjust 
than  the  act  upon  which  it  was  grounded.  Weetamo,  the 
widuw,  although  she  subsequently  soothed  her  sorrows  by 
a  second  marriage  with  an  Indian  of  lower  rank,  never  for- 
gave the  death  of  her  royal  husband,  but  secretly  nursed 


METACOMET    OR    KING   PHILIP.  393 

her  feelings  of  revenge,  and  gave    currency  among   the 
tribes  to  the  story  of  English  perfidy. 

Metacomet,  or  King  Philip  as  be  was  now  called,  sue-  16  62. 
ceeded  bis  brother  as  chief  Sachem  of  the  Wampanoags.     "  c^^' 
Being  sent  for  by  the  Court  at  Plymouth,  he  appeared  and 
renewed  the  treaty  of  amity  with  the  English.     He  was  a 
prince  as  politic  in  counsel,  as  he  was  uadaunted  in  war, 
and  he  was  a  man  too  high-spirited  tamely  to  submit  to 
private  injuries   or    public  wrongs,  without   seeking   the 
means  of  redress.     His  designs  required  concealment  until 
they  could  ripen  into  a  general  union  of  all  the  tribes 
against  the  English.     There  were  local  jealousies  to  ap- 
pease, and  ancient  rivalries  to  adjust,  for  which  time  and 
diplomacy  were  requisite.     Meanwhile  he  preserved,  in  a 
measure,  the  same  friendly  aspect  to  the  colonists  that  his 
father  had  done  ;  and  even  after  the  demonstrations  that 
had  led  to  the  first  disarming  of  the  Indians,  and  to  the  16  6  7. 
subsequent  alarms  in  Plymouth,  he  freely  made  a  treaty, 
confessing  his  fault,  and  agreeing  to  surrender  aU  his  guns,    j^'-^i 
to  be  kept  by  the  English  so  long  as  they  saw  fit.     But      10. 
seventy  of  them  were  given  up.     Strange  Indians  contin- 
ued to  resort  to  Mount  Hope.     The  Court  of  Plymouth 
again  sent  for  Philip   to  require  his  presence.     He,  with 
his  counsellors,  chanced  to  be  in  Boston  when  news  of  this 
order  was  receis'ed  there,  and  so  favorably  did  he  state  his 
case  that  the  government  of  Massachusetts  suggested  to 
Plymouth,  that  instead  of  commencing  hostilities  as  threat- 
ened, that  colony  should  refer  the  dispute  to  the  arbitra- 
tion of  the  other  colonies.     When  the  mediators  met  at    Sepn 
Plymouth,  Philip  signed  an  agreement  to  pay  one  hundred      "^' 
pounds  within  three  years,  and  five  wolves'  heads  annually 
to  that  colony,  to  refer  to  them  all  disputes  between  his 
tribe  and  the  English,  and  neither  to  seU  lands  nor  to  make 
war  without  their  consent.     This  was  a  forced  arransre- 
ment  on  the  part  of  the  Sachem,  made  under  the  alter- 
lative  of  war  for  which  he  was  not  yet  prepared.     That  he 


394  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF   BHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  SO  considered  it,  is  evident  from  his  remarkable  reply  to  Mr. 
^^^  John  Borden  of  Rhode  Island,  an  intimate  friend  of  Philip, 
16  7  4.  who,  when  the  war  was  about  to  commence,  attempted  to 
dissuade  him  from  it  by  urging  the  reciprocal  benefits  that 
would  result  from  peace.  "The  English  who  came  first 
to  this  country  were  but  an  handful  of  people,  forlorn, 
poor,  and  distressed.  My  father  was  then  Sachem.  He 
relieved  their  distresses  in  the  most  kind  and  hospitable 
manner.  He  gave  them  land  to  build  and  plant  upon. 
He  did  all  in  his  power  to  serve  them.  Others  of  their 
own  countrymen  came  and  joined  them.  "Their  numbers 
rapidly  increased.  My  father's  counsellors  became  uneasy 
and  alarmed  lest,  as  they  were  possessed  of  firearms,  which 
was  not  the  case  with  the  Indians,  they  should  finally  un- 
dertake to  give  law  to  the  Indians,  and  take  from  them 
their  country.  They  therefore  advised  him  to  destroy 
them  before  they  should  become  too  strong,  and  it  should 
be  too  late.  My  father  was  also  the  father  of  the  English. 
He  represented  to  his  counsellors  and  warriors  that  the 
English  knew  many  sciences  which  the  Indians  did  not ; 
that  they  improved  and  cultivated  the  earth,  and  raised 
cattle  and  fruits,  and  that  there  was  sufficient  room  in  the 
country  for  both  the  English  and  the  Indians.  His  advice 
prevailed.  It  was  concluded  to  give  victuals  to  the  Eng- 
lish. They  flourished  and  increased.  Experience  taught 
that  the  advice  of  my  father's  counsellors  was  right.  By 
various  means  they  got  possessed  of  a  great  part  of  his  ter- 
ritory. But  he  still  remained  their  friend  till  he  died. 
My  elder  brother  became  Sachem.  They  pretended  to 
suspect  him  of  evil  designs  against  them.  He  was  seized 
and  confined,  and  thereby  thrown  into  sickness  and  died. 
Soon  after  I  became  Sachem  they  disarmed  all  my  people. 
They  tried  my  peojjle  by  their  own  laws,  and  assessed  dam- 
ages against  them  which  they  could  not  pay.  Their  land 
was  taken.  At  length  a  line  of  division  was  agreed  upon 
between  the  English  and  my  people,  and  I  myself  was  to 


EXTENSIVE    INDIAN    PLOT.  395 

be  responsible.  Sometimes  the  cattle  of  the  English  chap. 
would  come  into  the  cornfields  of  my  people,  for  they  did  ^^.^ 
not  make  fences  like  the  English.  I  must  then  be  seized  16  7  4, 
and  confined  till  I  sold  another  tract  of  my  country  for 
satisfaction  of  all  damages  and  costs.  Thus  tract  after 
tract  is  gone.  But  a  small  part  of  the  dominion  of  my 
ancestors  remains.  I  am  determined  not  to  live  till  I  have 
no  country."  '  This  is  the  preamble  to  a  declaration  of 
war,  more  striking  from  its  origin,  and  more  true  in  its 
statements,  than  any  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  It  is 
the  mournful  summary  of  accumulated  wrongs  that  cry 
aloud  for  battle,  not  for  revenge  alone,  but  for  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  oppressed.  It  is  the  sad  note  of  preparation, 
sounded  by  a  royal  leader,  that  summons  to  their  last  con- 
flict the  aboriginal  lords  of  New  England.  It  is  the  death 
song  of  Metacomet,  chanted  on  the  site  of  his  ancestral 
home,  before  plunging  into  the  fatal  strife  that  was  to  end 
only  with  his  life,  and  to  seal  for  ever  the  fortunes  of  his 
race. 

The  fact  that  the  war  broke  out  before  the  conspiracy 
was  complete,  has  caused  some  historians  to  doubt  whether 
there  was  really  any  concerted  design  among  the  Indians  ; 
but  the  evidence  of  Col.  Church,  in  his  interviews  with 
Awashonks  and  Wee  tamo,  queens  of  Seaconnet  and  Po- 
casset,  appears  conclusive  of  Philip's  intrigues  in  that 
direction,  while  other  cotemporary  writers  adduce  the  testi- 
mony of  captives,  taken  at  Hadley  and  elsewhere,  to  show 
that  the  plot  embraced  the  remoter  Indians  of  the  Con- 
necticut River,  as  well  as  the  powerful  tribe  of  the  Narra- 
gansets.  An  event  that  precipitated  the  war  probably 
averted  the  utter  destruction  of  the  English,  by  distracting 
the  yet  incomplete  alliance  of  the  Indians.  Sausaman, 
one  of  Mr.  EUiot's  "  praying  Indians,"  a  man  of  unstable 
mind,  after  being  educated  at  the  college,  and  employed 
as  a  teacher  at  Natick,  returned  to  savage  hfe,  and  re- 

*  Foster  papers,  MSS.,  vol.  ix.  last  page. 


396  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

OHAP.  mained  for  many  years  with  Philip  as  his  secretary  and 
y^.J.,1^^   chief  counsellor.     The  persuasions  of  Elliot  induced  hhn 
16  74.  to  abandon  Philip,  and  resuming  civilized  habits,  he  be- 
came a  preacher.     Being  thrown  in  company  with  some 
1675.  of  his  old  comjianions,  he  discovered   the   ])lot  that  was 
forming  against  the  English.    .  This  he  made  known  to 
Governor  Leveret.     He  was  soon  afterwards  murdered,  as 
a  betrayer  of  his  tribe.     Three  Indians  who  committed 
the  deed  were  seized  and  executed  at  Plymouth.     Philip 
expected  his  own  arrest  as  the  instigator  of  the  crime. 
Enraged  at  his  subjects  being  thus  tried  by  English  laws 
for  fulfilling  his   commands,  in   executing  the  vengeance 
denounced    by  Indian  custom   against  all  traitors — that 
they  should  suffer  death,  and  determined  not  to  submit 
to  the  indignity  of  personal  violence,  Philip  mustered  his 
warriors  and  commenced  to  scour  the  country  in  all  direc- 
tions.    His  forces  rapidly  increased  by  accessions  from  the 
neighboring  tribes,  and  at  length  the  border  town  of  Swan- 
"^*      zey  received  the  first  blow  in  this  sanguinary  war.     Houses 
t).       were  robbed  and  cattle  killed.     Four  days  later  the  mas- 
sacre commenced.     Nine  of  the  inhabitants  were  slain  and 
seven  wounded.     The  troops  of  Plymouth  marched  at  once 

28.  to  the  defence  of  Swanzey.  Forces  were  also  despatched 
from  Boston,  who  attacked  the  Indians  and  drove  them  to 

29.  a  swamp.  The  next  day  other  troops  arrived,  the  whole 
were  placed  under  the  command  of  Major  Savage,  and 
marched  into  the  Indian  country  to  break  up  the  head 
quarters  of  Philip  at  Mount  Hope.  The  savages  fled  be- 
fore them  leaving  the  traces  of  their  retreat  in  burning 
buildings,  and  the  heads  and  hands  of  slaughtered  English 
stuck  upon  poles  by  the  wayside,  but  not  an  Indian  could 
be  seen.  The  wigwams  were  found  deserted,  with  evident 
marks  of  haste.  A  few  prowling  dogs  Avere  the  only  ves- 
tiges of  life  that  remained.  A  fort  was  thrown  up  at 
Mount  Hope,  much  against  the  advice  of  Church,  and  a 
small  garrison  left  to  guard  it.     The  enemy  had  crossed 


chukch's  fight  at  fogland  ferry.  397 

over  to  Pocasset  where  it  was  now  proposed  by  Mr.,  after- 
wards Colonel,  Church  to  follow  them.'  With  a  small 
band  of  volunteers,  he  readily  attempted  the  daring  exploit. 
Having,  previous  to  the  war,  negotiated  with  the  squaw 
sachems  of  the  two  tiibes  in  that  vicinity,  he  hoped,  on 
this  account,  to  withdraw  their  men  from  the  alliance  with 
Philip.  Crossing  over  to  Rhode  Island,  he  there  found 
boats  to  transport  him  the  next  night  to  Pocasset,  where 
the  party  laid  in  ambush  for  the  Indians,  but  in  vain 
The  next  day  they  followed  the  trail  south,  to  a  point  near  7^ 
Fogland  ferry,  where  they  were  attacked  by  a  greatly  su- 
perior force.  The  skirmish  continued  for  six  hours  till  the 
English  ammunition  was  nearly  spent,  when  a  sloop  from 
Rhode  Island  came  down  and  relieved  them  from  their  per- 
ilous condition.  They  returned  to  the  garrison  at  Mount 
Hoj)e. 

It  was  of  vital  importance  to  prevent  an  offensive  al- 
liance between  Philip  and  the  Narragansets,  for  it  was  said 
that  the  latter  had  promised  to  join  him  in  the  spring  with 
four  thousand  warriors.     Commissioners  were  sent  to  treat 


'  There  were  many  men  who  distinguished  themselves  by  their  courage 
and  address  in  the  course  of  this  war,  but  none  more  so  than  Col.  Benjamin 
Church.  lie  was  the  first  English  settler  at  Seaconuet,  now  Little  Compton, 
then  filled  with  Indians,  and  was  just  commencing  his  plantation  when  the 
war  broke  out.  He  thoroughly  understood  the  Indian  character,  and  their 
partisan  mode  of  warfare,  which  latter  he  adopted  with  great  success  in  the 
subsequent  struggle.  His  conquests  were  conducted  with  more  humanity 
than  was  displayed  by  many  of  his  colleagues,  while  his  courage  and  military 
skill  were  conspicuous.  He  was  to  Rhode  Island  what  Miles  Standish  had 
been  to  the  first  generation  of  Plymouth  colonists — a  buckler  and  shield  in 
the  hour  of  danger ;  but  he  had  far  more  experience  in  military  aiFairs  than 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Pilgrim  captain.  It  was  destined  for  him  to  strike  tho 
first  and  the  last  decisive  blows  in  Philip's  war,  by  which  he  is  now  best 
known  to  fame.  So  great  was  the  reputation  he  gained,  that  he  was  after- 
wards constantly  called  to  the  field  to  repel  the  French  and  Indians  at  the 
north  and  east.  He  served  in  no  less  than  five  expeditions  against  Canada 
and  Maine,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  colonial  forces  sent  out  by  the  royal 
Governors  of  New  England.  The  first  time  was  at  the  request  of  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros,  in  1689  ;  again  in  1690  by  Hinckley  ;  then  in  1692  he  waa 


398  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

with  them,  and  the  Massachusetts  troops  marched  into 
their  country  to  enforce  the  terms  that  mi^ijlit  be  dictated. 
They  found  the  villages  in  Pumham's  district  deserted. 
He  had  shaken  oif  his  English  shackles,  and  joined,  with  his 
countrymen  against  the  common  foe.  Some  days  were 
spent  in  negotiating  with  the  sachems  before  the  articles 
15.  of  agreement  were  concluded.  These  required  4-136  sur- 
render of  any  of  Philip's  subjects  who  might  come  in  theii 
power,  stipulated  rewards  for  such  surrender,  declared  wai 
against  him,  agreed  that  stolen  goods  should  be  restored, 
confirmed  all  former  grants  of  land  and  agreements  made 
with  the  United  Colonies,  pledged  perpetual  peace,  and 
granted  hostages  for  the  full  performance  of  all  the  arti- 
cles. It  was  a  forced  affair  throughout,  calculated  to  irri- 
tate rather  than  to  appease  the  Narragansets,  and  justly 
regarded  by  them  as  no  longer  binding  when  the  restraint 
that  compelled  it  was  removed. 

Meanwhile  the  war  raged  with  great  fury.  In  all  di- 
rections the  mangled  corpses ,  and  burning  towns  of  the 
English  bespoke  the  relentless  wrath   and  ceaseless  ac- 

commiss'ioned  by  Sir  William  Phipps  ;  next  in  169(i,  by  Stauofhton,  and  final- 
ly in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age  he  was  urged  by  Gov,  Dudley  in  1704,  to 
command  the  I'orces  for  the  fifth  time  sent  out  against  the  French,  and  ac- 
cepted. That  no  brilliant  acts  were  performed  in  these  expeditions,  either  by 
the  English  fleet  or  the  New  England  forces  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  nature  of 
the  country.  Operations  were  mostly  conducted  on  the  coast  of  Maine  and 
Nova  Scotia,  a  vast  wilderness,  where  security  to  the  enemy  was  certain  and 
pursuit  was  vain.  Col.  Church  died  January  17th,  1717-18,  in  his  seventy- 
eighth  year.  The  history  of  his  wars  was  written  by  his  son  Tliomas  before 
his  father's  death,  and  a  Latin  ode  by  his  grandson,  at  the  close  of  the  me- 
moir, attests  the  scholarship  of  his  descendants.  Some  branches  of  the  fam- 
ily have  settled  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  or  moved  elsewhere,  but  many 
of  the  direct  descendants  of  the  old  hero  still  reside  in  Little  Compton,  where 
they  preserve  the  position  and  the  patrimonial  estates  inherited  from  their  il- 
lustrious ancestor.  Gov.  Winslow  in  his  letter  to  the  King,  June  2t)tli,  1G77, 
accompanying  presents  of  the  spoils  of  Philip,  "being  his  Crowne,  his  Gorge 
and  two  Belts  of  thi-ir  own  making  of  their  goulde  and  silver  tiken  from  him 
by  Capt.  Benjamin  Ciiurch,"  speaks  of  Church  as  "  a  person  of  great  loyalty, 
and  the  most  successful  of  our  commanders."  The  original  letter  is  in  the 
British  State  Paper  Office.     New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  16, 


REPULSE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    AT    POCASSET.  399 

tivity  of  the  omnipresent  foe.  We  cannot  follow  these  chap, 
bloody  chronicles  in  all  their  details  of  destruction,  but  ^— ^-^^ 
must  pass  rapidly  over  the  field,  touching  only  upon  the  ^^  |  ^• 
prominent  jjoints  of  the  war,  or  on  those  which  had  a  spe- 
cial reference  to  this  colony.  Khode  Island  was  not  a 
member  of  the  New  England  confederacy,  and  therefore 
not  bound  to  take  part  in  hostilities  provoked  by  the  other 
colonies.  She  disapproved  of  the  war,  which,  from  her 
exposed  situation,  threatened  her  very  existence.  The 
government  too  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Quakers,  yet  she 
did  what  she  could,  in  an  unofficial  way,  to  aid  the  English 
with  provisions  and  volunteers,  and  to  protect  herself. 
Her  inaction  was  perhaps  the  reason  why  she  suffered  less 
than  her  neighbors  at  the  beginning,  but  the  case  was 
changed  when  her  own  territory  became  the  battle-ground.^ 
Upon  the  return  of  the  troops  to  Taunton,  they  found  17 
that  Philip  had  fortified  himself  in  a  swamp  at  Pocasset. 
Joining  with  the  Plymouth  forces,  the  army  marched  to 
the  attack,  and  were  repulsed  with  some  loss.  It  was  an  18. 
unfortunate  affair,  for  it  strengthened  the  firm  and  con- 
firmed the  wavering  natives,  and  thus  completed  a  gen- 
eral rising  in  behalf  of  Philip.  He  withdrew  from  the 
swamp,  effected  a  skilful  manoeuvre  in  the  passage  of 
Taunton  river,  accompanied  by  Weetamo  who  was  ever  at 
his  side,  and  hastened  to  join  the  Nipmucks,  who  had  al- 
ready taken  arms  against  the  English.  Plymouth  was  thus 
for  awhile  relieved,  and  the  burden  of  the  war  transferred 
to  Massachusetts.  Brookfield  was  burnt,  and  Captain  Au"- 
Hutchinson  with  twenty  mounted  men  was  defeated  with 
the  loss  of  half  his  troop,  and  himself  mortally  wounded. 
The  Connecticut  river  Indians  were  fully  enlisted  in  the 

'  Hubbard,  in  the  table  of  assaults  at  the  end  of  his  narrative,  says  that 
eighteen  houses  were  burnt  at  Providence,  June  28th,  1675,  and  that  on  29th 
March  following,  fifty-four  houses  were  there  destroyed.  The  latter  statement 
is  correct,  but  we  can  find  no  verification  of  the  former,  which  is  probably  an 
error. 


9 


400  iflSTORT   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   war,  and  committed  fearful  ravages  upon  the  defenceless 
^l^   towns.     Hatfield,  Hadley,  Deerfield,  and  Northfield  were 
It) 7 5.   successively  attacked,  many  of  the  inhabitants  shiin,  and 
^^  '    the  houses  destroyed.     These  devoted  villages  were  des- 
tined to  feel  still  further  the  horrors  of  savage  warfare. 
The  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  whose  union, 
at  one  time  almost  abandoned,  had  of  late  been  revived, 
9.      reviewed  the  causes  of  the  war,  gave  it  their  offi(.'ial  ap- 
proval, and  adopted  the  expenses  of  conducting  it  as  a 
just  charge  to  be  paid  proportionably  by  the  confederates. 
]2.  The  slaughter  of  Capt.  Beers,  with  a  troop  of  twenty 

men  near  Northfield,  was  followed  by  the  defeat  of  Capt. 
Lathrop  with  a  corps  of  young  men,  "  the  flower  of  the 
county  of  Essex,"  who  were  attacked  by  a  force  of  seven 
or  eight  hundred  Indians,  near  Hadley,  and  almost  the 
whole  party,  including  their  leader,  were  cut  off.     This 

18.  was  the  greatest  loss  the  country  had  yet  sustained. 
Nearly  one  hundred  of  the  best  troops  of  Massachusetts 
fell  in  this  unequal  fight.  The  English  had  not  yet  be- 
come accustomed  to  the  Indian  mode  of  warfare.  Their 
small  detachments  could  stand  no  chance  against  the 
lurking  savage,  in  the  deep  forests  and  dense  swamps  of 
the  country.  The  commissioners  now  ordered  an  army 
of  one  thousand  men  to  be  raised,  one-half  to  be  heavy 
dragoons.       Springfield  was  the  next  object  of  attack. 

p.         Near  this  town  the  Indians  had  a  fort,  into  which  some 

three  hundred  of  Philip's  warriors  were  received  the  night 

before    the  assault  was   made.      The    town,  was   partly 

5.       burned,  when  the  arrival  of  Major  Treat  with  a  body  of 

Connecticut  troops  saved  the  inhabitants  from  a  general 

massacre  by  dispersing  the  assailants.     For  his  gallantry 

on  this  and  other  occasions,  Major  Treat  was  offered  the 
14 

command  of  all  the  Connecticut  troops,  by  the  Assembly 

of  that  colony.  A  second  attack  was  made  upon  Hat- 
field, where  there  was  now  a  garrison,  by  a  body  of  eight 

19.  hundred  Indians,  who  surrounded  the  town.     It  was  a  fu- 


Fov. 


THE   NAERAGANSETS   JOIN   IN   THE    WAR.  401 

rioiis  but  unsuccessful   assault.      Major  Treat  with  his   chap. 
field  force,  and  the  neighboring  garrisons,  coming  to  the  ^^J^ 
relief  of  the   besieged,   the  Indians  were  repulsed  with  16  75. 
great  loss,  and  became  so  discouraged  that  the  greater 
part  retired  to  Narraganset,  and  Massachusetts,  in  her 
turn,  was  for  a  time  relieved  from  peril,  except  only  from 
the  small  marauding  bands  that  lingered  within  her  bor- 
ders. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Khode  Island,  acting  upon  27. 
the  petition  of  Capt.  Cranston,  referred  the  defence  of  the 
colony  to  the  councils  of  war  established  in  the  several 
towns,  whose  decisions  were  to  be  absolute.  The  Narra- 
gansets  gave  a  cordial  reception  to  the  hostile  Indians, 
in  violation  of  the  compulsory  treaty  of  July,  and  were 
more  than  suspected  of  having  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  recent  battles,  for  some  of  their  young  men  had  re- 
turned home  wounded.  The  United  Colonies  resolved  to  12, 
send  an  army  of  a  thousand  men  to  attack  them  in  their 
winter-quarters,  and  thus  to  prevent  their  openly  joining 
with  Philip  in  the  spring,  an  event  that  must  have  been 
most  disastrous  to  the  English,  The  haughty  reply  of 
Canonchet,  son  and  successor  of  Miantinomi,  and  chief 
sachem  of  the  Narragansets,  made  to  the  English  when 
they  sent  to  demand  the  surrender  of  Philip's  Indians, 
who  had  placed  their  women  and  children  under  his  pro- 
tection, displayed  the  spirit  of  the  royal  savage,  and  cut 
off  all  hopes  of  peace,  "Not  a  Wampanoag,  nor  the 
paring  of  a  Wampanoag's  nail,  shall  be  delivered  up,'* 
was  the  answer  of  the  indignant  sachem.  All  attempts 
at  reconciliation  were  henceforth  abandoned,  and  the  colo- 
nies prepared  for  their  last  appeal  to  the  stern  arbitra- 
ment of  arms.  Massachusetts  was  to  raise  five  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  men,  Plymouth  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight,  and  Connecticut  three  hundred  and  fifteen.  The 
latter  colony  exceeded  her  quota,  and  sent  three  hundred 
English  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  friendly  Indians,  Mo- 
VOL.  I.— 26 


402  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

hegans  and  Pequots,  so  that  the  whole  force  numbered 
eleven  hundred  and  thirty-five,  besides  volunteers  from 
Rhotle  Island,  many  of  whom  joined  the  army  as  it  marched 
through  Providence  and  Warwick  to  the  scene  of  action. 
When  all  Avas  ready  a  solemn  fast  was  held,  before  setting 
out  on  the  expedition. 

Strange  to  say,  this  enterprise  was  undertaken  by  the 
United  Colonies  without  consulting  the  government  of 
Rhode  Island,  although  the  express  command  of  the 
King,  embodied  in  the  royal  charter,  was  in  these  words  : 
"  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  rest  of  the  CoUonies  to 
invade  or  molest  the  native  Indians,  or  any  other  inhab- 
itants, inhabiting  within  the  bounds  and  lymitts  hereaf- 
ter mentioned  (they  having  subjected  themselves  unto  us, 
and  being  by  us  taken  into  our  speciall  protection),  with- 
out the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  Governour  and 
Company  of  our  Collony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations."  The  Narragansets  had  always  been  friendly 
to  Rhode  Island,  and  although  j^ortions  of  the  tribe  might 
engage  in  the  war,  the  greater  part  were  still  subject  to 
her  restraint ;  and  whether  they  were  so  or  not,  the  at- 
tack now  made  upon  them,  contraiy  to  the  advice  and 
without  the  consent  of  Rhode  Island,  was  a  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  royal  order,  an  unscrupulous  disregard  of  the 
rights,  and  a  wanton  act  of  indifference  to  the  welfare  of 
a  sister  colony,  which  no  exigency  of  State  could  excuse, 
since  the  remedy  was  easy,  involving  only  a  simjile  act  of 
courtesy  or  friendship.  But  these  feelings  were  strangers 
to  the  confederated  Puritans,  by  whom  heathens  and  her- 
etics were  classed  together  as  beneath  the  regard  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship.'  The  invasion  of  the  Narragansets  was 
kindred  in  spirit  with  the  desertion  of  Rhode  Island  after 
the  battle,  leaving  Providence  a  prey  to  the  fury  of  sav- 
ages, without  a  garrison  to  j)rotect  her  from  enemies  whom 
they  had  roused  against  her. 

'  Easton's  Narrative,  pp.  27-31.     Albuny,  1868. 


THE   WAR   EXTENDS   TO    RHODE   ISLAND.  403 

The  Massachusetts  troops  left  Boston  under  command  chap. 
of  Major  Appleton  ;  those  of  Plymouth  were  led  by  Ma-  ^^^ 
jor  Bradford,  and  the  Connecticut  troops  by  Major  Treat.  16  7  5. 
The  whole  army  was  divided  into  thirteen  companies  of  g_  * 
infantry  and  one  of  cavalry,  and  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Gov.  Winslow  of  Plymouth.  Captain  Church 
rode  in  the  General's  guard  as  a  volunteer.  We  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  the  number  of  recruits  that  joined 
the  expedition  from  this  colony.  It  must  have  been  con- 
siderable, for  the  people  were  roused  to  a  full  sense  of  the 
mortal  struggle  at  hand  by  the  massacres  which  had  al- 
ready commenced,  and  although  the  government  took  no 
direct  part,  yet  they  had  placed  the  full  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  councils  of  war.  Bull's  garrison  house  in 
South  Kingston  was  attacked,  fifteen  persons  were  slain 
and  but  two  escaped.  This  was  the  first  overt  act  of  war 
within  the  limits  of  Rhode  Island.  The  precise  day  is  15 
not  stated  in  the  chronicles  of  the  time,  but  is  j^robably 
that  which  we  affix.  The  Connecticut  troops  expected 
to  find  shelter  at  Pettaquamscot,  but  on  their  arrival 
found  the  buildings  destroyed  and  the  inhabitants  butch- 
ered. The  next  day  they  joined  the  other  forces,  and  the  jg 
whole  army  encamped  that  night  in  the  open  air.  The 
weather  was  cold  and  stormy.  At  the  dawn  of  the  Sab-  ig 
bath  morning  they  took  up  their  line  of  march  towards 
the  strong  fort  of  the  Narragansets,  fifteen  miles  distant. 
This  fort  occupied  a  rising  ground,  some  three  or  four 
acres  in  extent,  in  the  centre  of  a  dense  swamp,  about 
seven  miles  west  from  Narraganset  south  ferry.  It  was 
just  one  o'clock  when  they  reached  the  scene  of  action, 
wearied  by  a  long  march  through  the  snow.  A  renegade 
Indian  whom  they  found  at  the  edge  of  the  swamp  served 
as  a  guide  to  the  fort.  The  position  was  a  very  strong 
one,  well  fortified  with  palisades  and  breastworks,  and  en- 
closed by  an  impenetrable  hedge.  The  single  narrow  en- 
trance was  flanked  by  a  block  house,  whence  a  murderous 


17. 


404  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  fire  was  poured  upon  the  advancing  English.  No  lesa 
^'  than  six  of  the  captains,  with  a  large  number  of  men,  fell 
in  the  first  assault.  The  entrance  was  choked  with  the 
bodies  of  the  slain.  Over  the  mangled  corpses  of  their 
comrades  the  desperate  assailants  climbed  the  logs  and 
breastwork  to  effect  an  entrance.  The  struggle  on  either 
side  was  one  for  life.  Whichever  party  triumphed  there 
was  no  hope  of  quarter  to  the  vanquished.  Christian  and 
savage  fought  alike  with  the  fur}'  of  fiends,  and  the  sanc- 
tity of  a  New  England  Sabbath  was  broken  by  the  yells 
of  conflict,  the  roar  of  musketry,  the  clash  of  steel,  and 
all  the  demoniac  passions  which  make  a  battle-ground  an 
earthly  hell.  It  was  the  great  conflict  of  New  England. 
A  century  was  to  roll  by  before  the  sons  of  the  Puritans 
were  again  to  witness  upon  their  own  soil  so  fierce  a  strug- 
gle. The  carnage  was  immense.  The  acts  of  personal 
daring  performed  upon  both  sides  were  worthy  of  a  wider 
field  of  fame.  The  English  were  at  one  time  repulsed. 
For  three  hours  the  battle  raged  and  the  result  was  yet 
doubtful,  until  an  entrance  was  in  some  way  effected  in 
the  rear  of  the  fort  by  a  reserve  guard  of  the  Connecticut 
troops.  The  Indians,  who  were  all  engaged  at  the  first 
point  of  attack,  were  surprised  and  confused  by  a  heavy 
fire  in  their  rear.  Their  powder  was  nearly  consumed, 
still  their  arrows  rained  a  deadly  shower  upon  the  charging 
foe.  The  wigwams  within  the  fort  were  set  on  fire,  con- 
trary to  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Church,  whose  military 
forecast  discerned  the  importance  of  shelter  to  the  ex- 
hausted conquerors.  The  tragedy  of  the  Pequots  was 
thus  re-enacted  upon  their  ancient  enemies.  Humanity 
and  pohcy  alike  sustained  the  advice  of  the  gallant  Church, 
but  it  was  too  late.  The  infuriated  troops  had  already 
commenced  the  work  of  destruction.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  frail  material  of  five  hundred  Indian  dwellings  fur- 
nished  the  funeral  pyre  of  sick  and  wounded,  infant  and 


THE    GREAT    SWAMP    FIGHT.  405 

aged.     The  blazing  homes  of  the  Narragansets  lighted  chap. 
their  path  to  death.  v.— v-!.— 

The  victory  was  dearly  bought.  Accounts  of  the  1675. 
losses  on  both  sides  differ  widely.  The  entire  loss  of  the  ;^9  ' 
Indians,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  not  less  than 
one  thousand,  of  whom  at  least  three  hundred  perished 
in  the  flames  and  as  many  more  in  the  fight.  The  Eng- 
lish loss  is  variously  estimated  from  two  to  four  hundred, 
including  a  majority  of  the  superior  officers  who  fell  lead- 
ing the  assault.  More  than  one-half  of  this  number 
Height  have  been  saved  had  the  advice  of  Church  been 
adopted.  He  was  himself  severely  wounded,  and  with  his 
suffering  comrades  was  the  next  day  carried  over  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  there  carefully  attended  until  recovery.  But 
the  period  of  most  intense  suffering  to  the  combatants 
was  yet  to  come.  When  the  night  closed  over  the  field 
of  blood  there  was  no  shelter  for  victors  or  vanquished. 
The  fort  was  a  smouldering  ruin.  The  Indians  escaped 
to  an  open  cedar  swamp  near  by,  where  many  perished 
without  food  or  covering  on  that  fearful  night.  Still 
worse  was  the  fate  of  the  English.  They  had  taken  a 
weary  march  of  some  fifteen  miles,  through  deep  snow, 
since  daybreak,  without  halting  for  food,  and  had 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  desperate  conflict. 
They  had  noV  to  retrace  their  steps  in  the  dark,  through 
a  dense  forest,  with  a  deep  snow  beneath  their  feet  and  a 
December  storm  howling  around  them.  By  the  glare  of 
burning  wigwams  they  formed  their  line  of  marcli,  and 
bearing  away  their  dead  and  wounded,  their  retreat  was 
soon  covered  by  the  darkness  of  the  forest.  It  w^as  two 
o'clock  at  night  before  they  reached  their  camping  ground. 
The  cold  was  severe.  Many  died  on  the  march.  The 
limbs  of  the  wounded  were  stiffened,  fatigue  had  disabled 
the  rest,  there  was  no  shelter  or  provisions  of  any  sort, 
and  when  tL.)  morning  dawned  death  had  done  a  melan-  20. 
choly  work.     A  heavy  snow  storm  during  the  night  had 


20. 


406  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  wrapped  many  a  brave  soldier  in  his  winding-sheet.  The 
]^  survivors  could  hardly  move  from  the  depth  of  the  new 
fallen  snow.  The  providential  arrival  of  a  vessel  with 
provisions,  in  the  course  of  the  night,  at  Smith's  landing, 
alone  saved  the  remnant  of  that  gallant  army  from  de- 
struction. The  Connecticut  troops  were  so  disabled  that 
Major  Treat  led.  them  home  to  recruit.  The  other  forces 
scoured  the  country  during  the  winter,  cutting  off  the 
Indian  supplies  or  straggling  parties,  and  burning  their 
wigwams,  but  did  nothing  decisive.  The  Narragansets 
returned  to  their  ruined  fort  but  no  attempt  was  made  to 
dislodge  them. 

By  some  it  is  supposed  that  Philip  was  himself  in  the 
fort  during  the  battle,  while  others  state  tliat  hv  was  not. 
It  is,  however,  certain  that  his  winter-quarters  were  with 
the   Narragansets,  and  that   soon  after  the  fight  the  In- 

i67r).G.  dians  sued  for  peace,  but  their  overtures  were  rejected 
through  distrust.  The  remnant  of  the  English  army  gar- 
risoned at  Wickford.  A  reinforcement  of  one  thousand 
men  was  soon  sent  from  Boston.  So  intense  was  the  cold 
at  this  time  that  eleven  of  their  number  were  frozen  to 
death  on  the  march,  and  many  others  were  disabled  by 
sickness. 

Philip  removed  his  camp  some  twenty  miles  north  to 
a  rocky  swamp  in  the  Nipmuck  country.  The  distress  of 
the  Narragansets  for  the  want  of  provisions,  all  their  win- 
ter stores  having  been  destroyed  in  the  battle,  was  ex- 
treme. A  protracted  and  unusual  thaw  at  midwinter,  by 
enabling  them  to  obtain  roots,'  relieved  their  wants.  The 
army,  now  sixteen  hundred  strong,  the  Connecticut  troops 
having  returned,  proceeded  to  dislodge  IMiilip  from  his 
new  position.  The  j»eo})le  of  Warwick  made  arrange- 
2c,  ments  to  entertain  the  army  as  they  should  march  through 
tiiat  place.     It  was  the  last  town  meeting  held  there  for 

'  "  Ground  nuts,"  as  tlicy  are  called  by  tlio  old  writers,  meaning  the  wild 
artichoke,  a  staple  article  of  food  with  the  Indians. 


THE  WAR  BECOMES  GENERAL.  407 

fifteen  months.     The  place,  left  defenceless  by  the  retiring  chap. 

army,  was  abandoned,  and  the  inhabitants  took  refuge  on   ^; 

the  island,  where  their  town  meetino-s  were  reo;ularly  held,    1075-6. 

Jan. 
as  if  at  home,  for  the  choice  of  deputies  and  jurors.    The 

town  was  annihilated  for  the  time,  but  the  cor[)oration 
8urvi\'ed,  and  continued  to  discharge  its  legitimate  func- 
tions.    The  Indians  fled  at  the  apj)roach  of  the  English,      27. 
and  retreated  northward,  driving  off  the  live  stock  from 
Warwick.     The  army  pursued  them  but  a  few  miles,  and     Feb. 
soon  after  returned  home  and  was  disbanded.     By  this 
memorable  campaign  the  power  of  the   Narragansets  was 
broken  for  ever.     But  the  war  was  not  ended,  nor  scarcely 
checked.     It  could  not  be,  so  long  as  the  master-spirit  of 
Philip  survived.     He  went  on  an  expedition  to  the  Mo- 
hawks  to  obtain  ammunition,  and  to  secure  if  jDossible 
their  alli?tnce  against  the  common  enemy.     The  war  was 
again  transferred  mainly  to  Massachusetts,  but  became 
move    general    than   before.        Everywhere   the     burning 
towns  and  mangled  bodies  of  the  English  gave  token  of 
the  relentless  foe.     Lancaster  was  burnt,  and  about  forty      10. 
persons  killed  and  captured.     Medfield  next  suffered  to 
nearly  the  same  extent.     The  boldness  of  the  savages  led 
them   within   about  fifteen  miles  of   Boston,    where,  at 
Weymouth,  they  burned  several  bouses.      The  exposed      -^• 
condition  of  Providence  led  to  an  urgent  call  upon  the 
governor  for  help.     The  reply  of   the   deputy  governor      ok 
shows  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  colony,  and  their  ut- 
ter inability  to  support  the  force  asked  for,  while  at  the 
same   time  it  tenders  to  the   distressed  inhabitants  the 
hospitalities  of  the  island  as  a  refuge — an  offer  of  which 
they  had  speedy  occasion  to  avail  themselves.     The  let- 
ters addressed  to  Providence  and  Warwick  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  especially  convened  on  account  of  the  war,   m.  r  h 
were  to  the  same  effect.  13. 

Tlie  Indians  on  the  island,  above  twelve  years  of  age, 
were  placed  in  custody  of  the  whites,  and  were  required 


408  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

to  be  guarded  by  day,  and  to  be  securely  locked  up  al 
night.  A  further  order  was  passed,  "  that  no  Indian  in 
this  colony  be  a  slave  " — a  statute  to  which  we  shall  again 
refer  at  the  close  of  the  war.  An  attack  was  now  made 
upon  Warwick.  The  town  was  entirely  destroyed  exce})t 
one  house,  built  of  stone  that  could  not  be  burnt.  Only 
one  of  the  inhabitants  was  slain.  At  the  north  and  east 
the  Indian  ravages  were  still  greater.  Six  towns  in  Mas- 
sachusetts '  were  sacked,  and  more  or  less  wasted  by  fire, 
and  many  persons  slaughtered  during  this  month.  Dis- 
asters in  the  field  were  fearful  and  frequent.  Captain 
Wadsworth,  with  fifty  men,  marching  to  the  relief  of 
1C7  6.   Sudbury,  was  overwhelmed  by  a  large  body  of  Indians, 

26.  and  every  man  slain.  The  like  fate  attended  Captain 
Peirse  with  the  same  number  of  English  and  some  friendly 
Indians,  a  few  days  afterward,  near  Pawtucket  Falls,  and 

2s.  two  days  later  Rehoboth,  near  which  hostilities  first  be- 
gan, was  assaulted,  and  forty  dwellings  were  burned 
This  was  the  darkest  period  of  the  war.  Success  attended 
the  savages  on  every  side.  The  army  had  been  too  soon 
disbanded.  The  Narragansets,  although  broken,  were  not 
beaten  in  the  great  swamp  fight,  and  terrible  was  the 
vengeance  they  executed  far  and  wide  over  the  land. 
Providence  was  nearly  deserted,  leaving  it  an  easy  prey 
to  the  enemy.  Less  than  thirty  men  remained,  as  aj)- 
pears  by  a  list,  preserved  on  the  records,  of  those  "  that 
stayed  and  went  not  away."  Two  places  in  the  town 
had  been  fortified  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Roger 
Williams,  who,  although  seventy-seven  years  of  age,  ac- 
cepted the  commission  of  captain.  A  tradition  is  pre- 
served, that  when  the  enemy  approached  the  town  the 
venerable  captain  went  out  alone  to  meet  and  remonstrate 
with  them.  ''  Massachusetts,"  said  he,  "  can  raise  thou- 
sands (if  men  at  this  moment,  and  if  you  kill  them,  the 

'  Xorthuinpton,   Springfield,   Chelmsford,  Groton,  Sudbury,  and  Marlbo- 
rough. 


BURNING  OF  PROVIDENCE, NAVAL  DEFENCE.         409 

King  of  England  will  supply  their  place  as  fast  as  they  chap. 
fall."     "  Well,  let  them  come,"  was  the  reply,  "  we  are  x^'^ 
ready  for  them.     But   as  for  you,  brother  Williams,  you  ^^"f- 
are  a  good  man  ;  you  have  been  kind  to  us  many  years  ;  ^  ' 
not  a  hair  of  your  head  shall  be  touched."'     The  savages 
were  true  to  their  ancient   friend.     He  was  not  harmed, 
but   the   town   was  nearly  destroyed.     Fifty-four  houses 
were  burned.'-^     The  records  were  saved  by  throwing  them      29. 
from  the  burning  house  of  John  Smith,  the  miller,  then 
town  clerk,  into  his  mill-pond.     It  was  the  north  part  of 
the  town  that  was  consumed.     Within   the   memory  of 
aged  persons    but  recently  deceased,  the  cellar  walls  of 
some  of  these  houses  were  still  standing,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  road  just   south  of  Harrington's  lane,  or  North 
street,  the  northern  limit  of  the  city.^ 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  a  flotilla  of  April 
gun-boats  was  ordered  for  the  defence  of  the  island.  There  '^' 
were  to  be  four  boats  manned  by  five  or  six  men  each,  the 
force  to  be  increased  if  necessary.  These  were  employed 
in  constantly  sailing  round  the  island  to  prevent  invasion 
from  the  mainland.  Of  the  size  of  these  boats  we  have 
no  certain  knowledge,  except  that  some  of  them  were 
sloops.^     This  is  the  first  instance,  in  the  history  of  the 

^  Knowles,  346,  and  references  in  the  note. 

-  Accounts  vary  as  to  the  number.  Some  say  twenty-nine,  others  thirty, 
and  fifty-four.  The  largest  number  is  probably  nearest  the  fact.  The  dis- 
crepancy may  arise  from  a  distinction  made  but  not  stated,  between  dwellings 
and  buildings.  There  is  a  difference  of  one  day  also  in  the  date  of  this  as- 
sault.    The  29th  and  30th  of  March  are  both  assigned  by  different  writers. 

^  The  venerable  John  Howland,  late  President  of  the  Rhode  Island  His- 
torical Society,  who  died  Nov.  5th,  1854,  aged  ninety-seven  years,  has  often 
pointed  cut  this  spot  to  the  writer,  and  told  him  that  when  he  was  a  boy  the 
foundation  walls  of  several  of  these  buildings  were  visible. 

■*  A  petition  from  Wm.  Clarke  in  1679,  recites  that  he  was  "  commander 
ol"  '>»<■  of  the  sloops  in  1676,"  which  was  taken  from  him  by  the^  government, 
and  for  which  he  now  asks  indemnity.  By  a  letter  of  Roger  Williams  in  the 
archives  of  Connecticut,  dated  27th  June,  1675,  it  would  appear  that  this 
aaval  force  was  composed  of  sloops,  and  that  it  was  sent  out  nearly  a  year 
before  it  appears  upon  our  records.     Conn.  MSS.    voL  i.  p.  200,  in  R  I.  Hist, 


410  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  colonies,  where  a  naval  armament  was  relied  upon  for  de- 
y^^  fence.     It  was  the  germ  of  a  future  Rhode  Island  squad- 
1  6  7G.  ron,  one  century  later,  and  of  an  ultimate  American  navy. 
4^^'  A  classified  census  of  all  the  people  on  the  island  was 

ordered,  English,  negroes,  and  Indians,  with  those  also  who 
had  taken  refuge  there,  and  the  amount  of  corn  and  arms 
possessed  hy  each,  to  be  reported  in  detail  to  the  Assem- 
bly. The  record  of  these  interesting  statistics  cannot  be 
found.  Two  heavy  cannon  were  mounted  at  Portsmouth. 
Sixteen  "  of  the  most  juditious  inhabitants  "  of  the  colony 
were  desired  to  attend  the  sittings  of  the  Assembly,  to  ad- 
vise with  that  body  "  in  these  troublesome  times." 

On  the  very  day  these  proceedings  were  had,  an  event 
took  place  that  contributed  more  than  anything  which  had 
yet  occurred  to  put  an  end  to  the  war.  The  capture  of 
Canonchet,  the  leader  of  the  Narragansets,  next  to  that  of 
Philip  himself,  was  the  most  decisive  blow.  It  was  he 
who  had  defeated  Capt.  Peirse,  nine  days  before,  and  had 
cut  off  his  entire  command.  This  terrible  defeat  roused 
the  United  Colonies  to  more  vigorous  action.  Four  com- 
panies of  Connecticut  volunteers,  with  three  of  friendly 
Indians,  immediately  marched  to  attack  Canonchet.  Capt. 
George  Denison  of  Stonington,  who  led  one  of  the  compa- 
nies, was  conspicuous  for  his  zeal  and  bravery.  This  force 
suri)rised  Canonchet  near  the  scene  of  Peirse's  massacre  at 
Pawtucket,  and  a  rout  ensued.  The  Sach-e.n  fled,  but 
having  slipped  in  wading  the  river,  was  overtaken  on  tlie 
opposite  bank  by  a  Pequot  and  surrendered  without  re- 
sistance. The  first  Englishman  who  came  up  to  him  was 
a  young  man  named  Robert  Stanton,  who  put  some  ques- 
tions to  the  royal  captive.  "  You  much  child !  No  under- 
stand matters  of  war  !     Let  your  brother  or  chief  come. 

•Soc.  The  same  appears  from  Holdeii  and  Greene's  petition  in  reply  to  the 
Massachusetts  agents.  ''The  colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence,  did,  a 
the  request  of  the  other  colonies,  assist  them  with  several  sloops  well  rcanned, 
when  the  war  was  begun  in  Plymouth  colony,  to  the  utmost  they  could  do,, 
and  to  the  great  damage  of  the  enemy."     Br.  S.  P.  O.  N.  Eng.,  vol.  iii.  p.  2b. 


DEATH    OF    CANONCHET.  411 

nim  Twill  answer  !  "  was  the  contemptuous  reply  after  re-  chap. 
garding  the  youtli  for  a  moment  in  silence.  His  life  was  ^,L^ 
offered  him  on  condition  of  the  submission  of  his  tribe.  1676. 
He  treated  the  offer  with  calm  disdain,  and  when  it  was 
urged  upon  him,  desired  "  to  hear  no  more  about  it."  He 
was  sent  in  charge  of  Capt.  Denison  to  Stonington,  where  a 
council  of  war  condemned  him  to  be  shot.  When  inform- 
ed that  he  must  die,  he  made  this  memorable  answer, 
which  may  challenge  the  loftiest  sentiment  recorded  in 
classic  or  modern  history.  "/  like  it  icell  ;  I  shall  die 
before  myluMrt  is  sift,  or  I  have  said  any  thing  unworthy 
of  myself ."  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  has  been  justly 
compared  with  that  of  Kegulus  before  the  Eoman  Senate, 
than  which  the  chronicles  of  time  present  but  one  sublimer 
scene.  A  higher  type  of  manly  character,  more  loftiness  of 
spirit,  or  dignity  of  action,  the  qualities  that  make  heroes 
of  men,  and  once  made  demigods  of  heroes,  than  are  found 
in  this  western  savage,  may  be  sought  in  vain  among  the 
records  of  pagan  heroism  or  of  Christian  fortitude.  To 
ensure  the  fidelity  of  the  friendly  tribes,  by  committing 
them  to  a  deed  that  would  for  ever  deter  the  Narragansets 
from  seeking  their  alliance,  it  was  arranged  that  each  of 
them  should  take  a  part  in  the  execution.  Accordingly 
the  Pequots  shot  him,  the  Mohegans  cut  off  his  head  and 
quartered  him,  and  the  Niantics,  who  under  Ninigret  had 
joined  the  English,  burned  his  body,  and  sent  his  head  as 
"  a  token  of  love  "  and  loyalty  to  the  commissioners  at 
Hartford.  Thus  perished  the  foremost  of  Philip's  cap- 
tains, and  the  last  great  Sachem  of  the  Narragansets  ! 

The  death  of  Grovernor  Winthrop  of  Connecticut  was  a  5_ 
severe  loss  to  New  England.  Ehode  Island  had  good  rea- 
son to  mourn  his  decease,  for  his  inflexible  justice  would 
nut  assent  to  the  spurious  claims  set  up  by  his  own  colony 
in  the  Narraganset  country,  even  while  he  was  their  chief 
magistrate.  His  personal  qualities  had  endeared  him  in  his 
youth  to  the  people  of  Rhode  Island,  so  that  he  was  urged 


412  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  to  mote  hither  and  become  the  goveraor.  The  conduct  ol 
*^'     his  later  years  had  served  to  confirm  the  esteem  in  wliich  he 

1  6  7  6.  was  held,  and  now  his  death  left  Rhode  Island  without  an 
^"  ■  influential  friend  in  the  councils  of  her  ambitious  neighbor. 
Within  a  few  days  a  still  heavier  loss  befell  Rhode 
Island.  The  two  men  who  had  been  so  long  rivals  in  their 
public  life,  as  agents  of  their  respective  colonies,  but  who 
had  always  maintained  a  mutual  friendship,  passed  from 
the  world  almost  together.  Dr,  John  Clarke  expired  two 
weeks  after  Governor  Winthrop,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year 
of  his  age.  To  him  Rhode  Island  was  chiefly  indebted  for 
the  extension  of  her  territory  on  each  side  of  the  bay,  as 
well  as  for  the  royal  charter.  He  was  a  ripe  scholar, 
learned  in  the  practice  of  two  professions,  besides  having 
had  large  experience  in  diplomatic  and  political  life.  He 
was  always  in  public  life  under  the  old  patent,  as  commis- 
sioner and  as  general  treasurer,  from  the  first  election  of 
commissioners  held  under  it,  until  sent  to  England,  where 
iie  was  employed  as  agent  of  the  colony  for  twelve  years. 
On  his  return,  he  served  as  a  deputy  in  the  Assembly  from 
the  first  election  under  the  charter  till  he  was  made 
deputy  governor,  to  which  position  he  was  three  times 
elected,  and  served  twice,  closing  his  public  life  with  that 
office,  five  years  before  his  death.  With  all  these  public 
pursuits,  he  continued  the  practice  of  his  original  profes- 
sion as  a  physician,  and  also  retained  the  pastoral  charge 
of  his  church,  as  its  rect)rds  show.  His  life  was  devoted  to 
the  good  of  others.  He  was  a  patriot,  a  scholar,  and  a 
Christian.  The  purity  of  his  character  is  conspicuous  in 
many  trying  scenes,  and  his  blameless,  self-sacrificing  life 
disarmed  detraction  and  left  him  without  an  enemy.  He 
was  three  times  married  but  left  no  children.  The  colony 
was  largely  indebted  to  him  for  advances  made  in  securing 
the  charter,  and  this  debt  was  not  extinguished  till  many 
years  after  his  decease.' 

'  He  had  mortgaged  his  Newport  estate  in  July,  1663,  to  Capt.   Ri'^hard 


OFFICE    OF    MAJOR-GENEKAL    CREATED.  413 

The  Greneral  Assembly  having  provided  for  the  naval  chap. 
defence  of  the  island,  adjourned  one  week  and  then  created  _.,,1_ 
the  office  of  Major-General.     They  elected  Captain  John  167  6. 
Cranston,  with  the  title  of  Major,  to  command  all  the      n 
militia  of  the  colony.     The  commission  is  signed  by  Gov. 
Coddington,  whose  religious  tenets  were  compelled,  in  this 
case,  to  succumb  to  the  popular  will  under  the  stimulus 
of  pressing  danger.     Providence  was  in  ruins  ;  but  as  the 
time  for  planting  was  near,  the  handful  of  men  who  re- 
mained there    again  applied  to  the  governor  for  aid  in 
maintaining  a  garrison.     Deputy  governor  Clarke  replied, 
agreeing  to  sustain  ten  men  at  the  colony's  expense,  until      12. 
the  next  session  of  Assembly,  when  a  committee  was  sent 
to  Providence  upon  that  business,  and  further  action  was     ^^7 
postponed  for  another  month. 

At  the  general  election,  deputy  governor  Walter  Clarke 
was  chosen  governor,  and  Major  John  Cranston  deputy 
governor.  Ten  barrels  of  powder  and  a  ton  of  lead  were 
ordered  to  be  bought. 

For  two  months  after  the  capture  of  Canonchet,  there  j^^^^^ 
were  no  events  of  importance  in  the  war.  The  Indians  had  5. 
gone  north,  and  thither  the  Connecticut  troops  under  Ma- 
jor Talcot  pursued  them.  Their  march  to  Brookfield  and 
Northampton  was  a  long  and  weary  one,  known,  to  this 
day,  as  "  the  hungry  march,"  from  the  sufferings  of  the 
soldiers  for  want  of  food.  They  came  in  good  time,  for 
only  four  days  after  their  arrival  at  the  latter  place,  a  force 
of  seven  hundred  Indians  made  a  furious  assault  upon 
Hadley,  now  for  the  third  time  attacked.  It  was  then 
that  the  sudden  appearance  of  Goffe,^  the  regicide,  who 

Dean,  of  London.  The  last  payment  was  not  made  till  Sept  5th,  1699,  when 
<£llo  was  paid  to  the  heirs  of  Capt.  Dean,  and  the  mortgage  was  lifted. 
Backus's  Hist,  of  the  Baptists. 

'  The  tradition  that  Goffe  <ind  Whaley  were  at  one  time  concealed  in  Xar- 
raganset,  is  strengthened  by  the  suspicions  of  the  royal  Commissioners  to  that 
effect.  In  a  letter  from  Fort  James,  New  York,  31st  Oct.,  1GG6,  to  Mr.  Rich- 
ards, a  constable  in  Kings  Province,  they,  at  his  request,  authorize  him  to 


12. 


414  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

unknown  to  the  people  was  concealed  near  the  town,  serv- 
ed to  rally  the  terrified  inhabitants  to  battle  until  the  troo])s 
from  Northampton  came  to  the  rescue.  His  venerable  as- 
pect, mysterious  appearance,  and  as  sudden  departure,  so 
bewildered  the  population  o{  Hadley,  that  they  ascribed 
their  deliverance  to  the  interposition  of  an  angel,  so  super- 
natural, in  their  minds,  was  the  whole  transaction.  At 
this  time,  Col.  Church  concluded  a  treaty  with  Awashonks, 
queen  of  Seaconnet,  by  which  her  tribe  was  detached  from 
the  cause  of  Philip,  and  soon  after  united  in  the  expedition 
under  Church,  that  terminated  the  war.  ■  The  daring  dis- 
played by  Church  in  this  negotiation,  was  equal  to  his 
skill  in  etfecting  the  result.*  Awashonks  sent  a  messenger 
to  Rhode  Island,  whose  safe  conduct  was  provided  for  by 

14.  the  Assembly.  The  Providence  petition  was  granted  by 
establishing  a  garrison  of  eight  men,  with  two  more,  to  be 
found  by  the  owner  of  the  garrison  house  at  his  own  cost. 
Roger  Williams,  Arthur  Fenner,  William  Harris,  and 
George  Lawton  were  appointed  to  select,  from  the  garri- 
sons already  existing  in  Providence,  the  one  best  suited 
for  the  purpose,  which  was  to  be  called  the  king's  garrison. 
Captain  Arthur  Fenner  was  placed  in  command  and  duly 
commissioned.  The  Assembly  had  a  series  of  adjourn- 
ments all  through  this  year,  sitting  every  few  weeks,  as 
the  exigencies  of  the  time  required.  The  army  in  pass- 
ing through  Providence,  after  the  great  swamp  fight,  had 
left  there  certain  hostages  or  prisoners  in  charge  of  Roger 
Williams,  who  sent  them  for  safe  keeping  to  Newport. 

80.  The  Assembly  ordered  them  to  be  returned  to  Providence, 
"judging  they  properly  belong  to  Plymouth  colony."  It 
should  be  noted  that  the  army  left  no  garrison  at  Provi- 

retain  the  cattle  in  liis  custody,  giving  security  in  the  sum  of  £100  to  the 
Governor  of  Khodc  Island,  for  the  surrender  of  said  cattle  when  required,  "as 
it  appears  to  us  by  several  testimonies  and  circumstances  that  the  cattle  ara 
truly  bclonj^ing  to  them,"  GofiFe  and  Whaley.  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.  vol. 
i.  p.  S'tl. 

'  Church's  History,  85-44. 


19 


DEFEAT    OF    THE   INDIANS    NEAR   WARWICK.  415 

dence,  although,  by  the  act  of  the  confederates,  the  de-  chap, 
fenceless  towns  of  Rhode  Island  were  exposed  to  the  mer-  ^^^ 
ciless  savages,  who  could  not   be  expected,  after  the  de-  167  6. 
struction  of  their  fort  by  the  English,  to  distinguish  friend 
from  foe  among  the  whites.     In  fact  every  house  between 
Providence  and  Stonington,  except  the  stone  one  at  War- 
wick, was  burned,  and  every  fertile  field  laid  waste.     The 
Assembly  repealed  the  law  exempting  Quakers  from  bear- 
ing arms  or  paying  military  fines,  and  now  required  every 
citizen  to  do  his  part  in  personally  defending  the  State. 
The  exemption  act  was  restored  when  the  war  was  ended. 

After  the  repulse  at  Hadley  the  Indians  deserted  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  resumed  their  ravages  to  some 
extent  in  Plymouth.  The  Eno;lish  army  marched  to  the  3  ^ 
south,  and  surprised  them  in  a  cedar  swamp  near  War- 
wick. A  great  slaughter  ensued.  Magnus,  the  old  queen 
of  Narraganset,  a  sister  of  Ninigret,  was  taken,  and  with 
ninety  other  captives  put  to  the  sword.  One  hundred 
and  seventy-one  Indians  fell  in  this  massacre  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  man  of  the  English.  Thence  they  scoured 
the  country  between  Providence  and  Warwick,  killing 
many  more.  The  effect  of  these  repeated  reverses  was 
soon  visible.  The  Indians  were  divided  in  their  councils, 
and  many  sued  for  peace.  Many  came  to  Conanicut  isl- 
and, and  submitted  to  the  government  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  large  numbers  surrendered  at  discretion  to  the  Eng- 
lish forces.  Others  fled  westward,  and  were  chased  from 
swamp  to  swamp.  The  main  body  of  these  were  over- 
taken near  the  Housatonic  river,  by  Major  Talcot,  and 
cut  to  pieces.  Still  Philip  maintained  his  ground  with  a 
band  of  trusty  followers.  He  had  said  that  he  would  not 
live  till  he  had  no  country,  and  the  time  was  drawing 
nierh  when  his  word  would  be  redeemed. 

Capt.  Church  was  commissioned  by  Grov.  Winslow  to      24^ 
proceed  with  a  volunteer  force  of  two  hundred  men,  chiefly 
Indians,  to  attack  Philip  in  his  retreats  near  Mount  Hope. 


416  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

For  several  days  they  pursued  the  Indians  from  place  to 
place,  killing  many  and  taking  a  large  number  prisoners, 
among  whom  were  Philip's  wife  and  only  son.  The  sa- 
chem himself  narrowly  escaped  being  shot.  Still  his  in- 
domitable spirit  sustained  him.  Two  Rhode  Island  com- 
panies   under    Lieut.    Eichmond    and    Capt.    Edmonds, 

7^  brought  in  forty-two  captives.  These  and  all  other  pris- 
oners were  ordered  to  be  sold  into  service  in  the  colony 
for  the  term  of  nine  years,  one-half  the  proceeds  to  go  to 
the  captors  and  the  rest  to  the  treasury.  No  Indians 
were  permitted  to  be  brought  into  the  island,  or  to  be 
sent  out  of  it  without  permission  of  the  magistrates,  un- 
der a  penalty  of  five  pounds. 

Church  closely  followed  up  his  successes,  and  in  three 
days  had  captured  over  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  Phil- 
ip's followers.  The  sachem  was  driven  to  a  swamp  near 
Mount  Hope,  where  one  of  his  followers,  advising  him  to 
sue  for  peace,  was  slain  on  the  spot  by  the  indignant 
chief.  This  indiscreet  act  hastened  his  own  death.  Al- 
derman, a  brother  of  the  murdered  man,  deserted  to 
Church,  and  guided  the  enemy  to  the  place  where  Philip 

12.  was  concealed.  The  thicket  was  surrounded.  Capt. 
Roger  Goulding  of  Rhode  Island  went  into  the  swamp  to 
drive  out  the  Indians.  Philip  in  attempting  to  escape 
was  shot  through  the  heart  by  Alderman  himself,  thus 
singularly  fulfilling  the  prophecy  of  the  powaws  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  that  Metacomet  should  never  fall 
by  English  hands.  The  body  was  dragged  out  of  the 
swamj),  beheaded  and  quartered  by  an  Indian.  The  head 
was  sent  to  Plymouth,  where  it  was  set  up  on  a  gibbet 
for  twenty  years  ;  one  hand  was  sent  to  Boston  as  a 
trophy,  and  the  other,  which  had  a  well-known  scar,  was 
given  to  Alderman,  who  made  money  by  exhibiting  it. 
The  mangled  body  was  hung  upon  four  trees,  a  monument 
of  the  barbarity  of  the  age.     The  great  chieftain  of  the 


CLOSING    INCIDENTS    OF    THE    WAR.  41*7 

aborigines  fell  by  a  traitor's  arm,  and  was  denied  tbe   rite  chap, 
of  Christian  burial  by  his  vindictive  foes  !  ^-v— 

Among  those  who  fell  in  this  attack  was  the  Indian  l  f» ''  6. 
who  had  fired  the  first  gun  in  the  war.  An  idea  was  cur-  °" 
rent  in  those  days  that  whichever  side  began  the  war 
would  be  defeated,  which  may  account  for  the  report  that 
Philip  wept  when  he  heard  of  the  massacre  at  Swanzey. 
When  we  consider  these  two  events,  the  manner  of  Phil- 
ip's death,  and  the  fall,  at  the  same  moment,  of  the  In- 
dian who  commenced  the  war,  and  recall  the  two  prophe- 
cies or  traditions  which  contemporary  w^riters  record,  the 
whole  tragedy  of  the  war  assumes  the  air  of  an  acted 
drama.  The  coincidences  certainly  could  not  be  more  re- 
markable in  a  written  tragedy. 

Most  of  the  Indians  escaped  from  the  swamp  guided 
by  old  Annawon,  a  noted  warrior  under  Massasoit,  and 
the  chief  counsellor  of  Metacomet.  He  was  a  wary  sav- 
age, and  none  but  a  master  of  the  art  of  Indian  warfare, 
like  Church,  could  have  taken  him  alive.  This  was  ac- 
complished by  Church  a  few  nights  after  the  death  of 
Philip.  Church  wished  to  spare  his  life,  but,  in  his  ab- 
sence, the  Plymouth  authorities  ordered  him  to  be  shot. 
The  most  renowned  captives  met  a  similar  fate.  Quina- 
pin,  a  cousin  of  Canonchet,  and  next  to  him  in  command  24 
at  the  great  swamp  fight,  was  sentenced  to  death  by  a 
council  of  war  at  Newport,  and  he  with  his  brother  wee 
shot  the  next  day.  Pumham  had  already  efiaced  tl.^;  ,-^ 
stain  of  a  servile  life  by  a  manly  death.'  The  friends  oi 
Philip  were  all  executed,  or  met  a  fate  worse  than  death 
in  being  sold  away  into  perpetual  slavery.  Such  was  the 
fate  of  the  young  Metacomet,  the  only  son  of  Philip,  and 
hundreds  of  other  captives  were  shipped  to  Spain  and  the 
West  Indies. 

One  thing  should  be  said  to  the  lasting  honor  of  the  red 

'  He  fell  on  the  25th  July  at  the  head  of  his  warriors,  in  a  battle  near 
Dedham.     Drake,  Book  iii.  p.  75. 
VOL.  I. — 27 


418  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

man.  The  treatment  of  their  prisoners  was  generally  hu- 
mane, more  so  than  was  that  of  their  Christian  eonr{iierors. 
Some  of  the  soldiers,  it  is  true,  were  tortured,  but  only  a 
few,  while  the  captives  taken  by  the  English  were  mostly 
butchered  in  cold  blood,  or  sent  into  Sjianish  slavery. 
The  English  women  were  uniformly  treated  with  respect. 
In  not  a  single  instance  was  violence  oflfered  to.tlieir  per- 
sons during  their  captivity.  The  chivalric  honor  of  the 
savage  was  the  inviolable  jjrotection  of  his  female  captive. 
This  is  the  unvarying  testimony  of  many  women,  of  all 
ages  and  conditions,  who  were  carried  awaiy  in  the  sacking 
of  the  towns.' 

The  war  was  ended.  Desolation  reigned  over  New 
England,  and  destiny  had  placed  the  seal  of  annihilation 
upon  the  Indian  race.  Victors  and  vanquished  were  alike 
exhausted.  Thirteen  English  towns  were  in  utter  ruin, 
and  except  in  Connecticut,  which  altogether  escaped, 
scarcely  one  remained  unscathed.  The  rural  districts 
were  everywhere  laid  waste.  One-eleventh  of  the  avail- 
able militia  of  the  country  had  fallen  in  battle,  and  a  still 
larger  proportion  of  buildings  were  destroyed.^  A  heavy 
debt  weighed  upon  the  United  Colonies,^  while  Rhode 
Island,  excluded  from  the  league  and  always  opposed  to 
the  war,  had  suffered  most  severely  of  all.  Her  mainland 
had  become  a  desert,  her  islands  fortresses  for  defence  and 
cities  of  refuge.  We  have  already  adverted  to  the  sad 
late  of  the  captive  Indians.  A  few  of  the  foremost  in 
the  war  were  condemned  to  death,  but  the  greater  part, 

'  See  Mrs.  Rowlaudson's  narrative  of  her  captivity. 

"  Trumbull's  Connecticut,  .350,  note. 

'  Edward  Randolph  in  his  report  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  Oct.  12th,  1676, 
states  the  cost  of  the  war  at  £1.')0,000,  that  about  twelve  hundred  liouses 
were  burnt,  over  eight  thousand  head  of  cattle  destroyed,  besides  thousands 
of  bushels  of  grain.  The  English  loss  he  puts  at  six  hundred,  witli  twelve 
captains,  and  the  Indians  at  more  than  tiiree  thousand.  The  original  report 
is  in  the  British  S.  P.  0.  N.  England  papers,  vol.  ii.  p.  93-100.  See  also 
Davis'rt  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  458,  Appendix,  and  Thatcher's  Indian  Biogra- 
phy, Vol.  1.  p.  162. 


DISPOSAL    OF    THE    CAPTIVES.  419 

in  the  otlier  colonies,  were  sent  abroad  and  sold  into  hope- 
less slavery.  The  conduct  of  Khode  Island  was  more  hu- 
mane, and  her  legislation  on  this  subject,  when  we  con-  16  7  6. 
sider  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  example  of  her  neigh-  °' 
bors,  was  more  enlightened.  The  act  of  March,  to  which 
we  before  referred,  declared  "  that  no  Indian  in  this  col- 
ony be  a  slave,  but  only  to  pay  their  debts,  or  for  their 
bringing  ujd,  or  custody  they  have  received,  or  to  perform 
covenant  as  if  they  had  been  countrymen  and  not  taken 
in  war."  This  was  in  fact  a  true  apprenticeship  system, 
whose  terms  were  strictly  carried  out,  such  as  generally 
existed  until  a  recent  day  among  the  white  population 
everywhere,  differing  only  in  the  fact  that  one  was  volun- 
tary while  the  other  was  not.  It  was  not  slavery  either 
as  it  is  recognized  now  or  as  it  existed  then  ;  and  writers 
who  have  wasted  regrets  over  the  part  that  Roger  Wil- 
liams had  in  the  final  disposition  of  the  Rhode  Island 
captives,  might  have  sj)ared  their  words  had  they  more 
carefully  examined  the  nature  of  the  transaction,  or  taken 
into  account  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  conduct  of  the 
other  colonies.  At  a  town-meeting  held  in  Providence 
upon  this  subject,  a  committee  of  five,  of  whom  Williams 
was  chairman,  reported  a  scale  by  which  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  Indians  was  to  be  divided  among  the  towns-  14. 
men.  The  inhabitants  were  to  be  supj)lied  at  the  rate 
current  on  the  island.  All  captives  under  five  years  of 
age  were  "  to  serve  till  thirty  ;  above  five  and  imder  ten, 
till  twenty-eight  ;  above  ten  to  fifteen,  till  twenty-seven  ; 
above  fifteen  to  twenty,  till  twenty-six  ;  from  twenty  to 
thirty  shall  serve  eight  years  ;  all  above  thirty,  seven 
years."  '  An  Indian  named  Chuff,  who  had  been  a  ring- 
leader in  the  assaults  on  Providence,  was  condemned  by 
the  council  of  war  and  shot.  Still  it  was  necessary  to  25. 
preserve  a  strict  watch  over  the  natives.     A  warrant  was 

'  An  extract  from  an  account  of  sales  at  this  time,  and  showing  the  value 
of  Indian  service,  is  given  in  Judge  Staple's  Annals,  171. 


Aug. 


29. 


420  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    EHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  issued  to  stop  all  the  canoes  on  Prudence  Island,  and 
,_^:,^  not  to  j^ermit  any  Indian  to  leave  the  island  till  further 
16  76.  orders.  Care  was  also  taken  to  prevent  their  obtaining 
any  arms  or  ammunition.*  The  refugees  began  now  to 
return  from  Newport.  Mrs.  Williams  was  brought  up  in 
a  sloop  belonging  to  her  son  Providence,  who  on  the  same 
day  carried  away  all  the  Indian  prisoners  to  be  sold  at 
Newport.  The  eastern  Indians,  instigated  by  the  French, 
continued  for  some  years  longer  to  harass  the  frontiers, 
and  Col.  Church  was  repeatedly  sent  against  them.  But 
the  death  of  Metacomet  closed  the  war  in  the  settled  por- 
tions of  New  England. 

This  war  was  the  last  struggle  of  an  expiring  nation. 
Before  taking  leave  of  the  subject  we  may  be  allowed  to 
present  a  few  reflections  suggested  hy  the  results.  The 
Wampanoags  and  the  Narragansets  suffered  the  faie  of 
the  Pequots,  and  successive  tribes,  however  powerful  or 
warlike,  have  in  their  turn  followed  the  same  path  to 
death.  All  history  points  to  an  inevitable  law  conti oiling 
the  occupancy  of  the  earth.  Three  races,  and  probably 
four,  perhaps  even  more,  have  occupied  this  continent, 
but  two  of  wdiich  remain,  and  one  of  these  is  fast  retiring 
before  the  onward  progress  of  the  other.  A  century  hence 
there  will  scarcely  be  a  vestige  of  the  Indian  race  upon 
this  continent.  They  will  have  utterly  disappeared,  and, 
unlike  their  jiredecessors  whose  western  tumuli  and  Aztec 
monuments  survive  the  knowledge  of  their  builders,  and 
attest  the  existence  of  two  successive  races  anterior  to 
the  Indians,  they  will  not  leave  a  proof  upon  the  earth 
that  they  ever  have  existed.  What  is  the  law  by  which 
race  after  race  of  humanity  succeed  each  other,  each  one 
continuing  for  untold  ages,  and  then  giving  place  to 
another  utterly  dissimilar  to  its  predecessor  ?  The  ques- 
tion involves  the  very  mystery  of  creation,  and  can  never 

'  A  copy  of  this  warrant  is  in   "Letters  and  Papers,  1632-1678,"  No.  iii. 
p.  161,  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 


LAW    OF    THE    SUCCESSION    OF    RACES.  421 

be  determiDed  by  finite  minds.  What  we  see  daily  oc- 
curring in  our  own  and  in  other  lands,  where  a  higher 
type  of  civilization  is  steadily  and  rapidly  supplanting  a  16  76. 
grosser  and  weaker  barbarism,  may  serve  to  show  the  op- 
eration of  a  law  that  seems  to  have  existed  since  the 
formation  of  man.  Wherever  the  arts,  the  customs,  or 
the  religion  of  a  superior  race  is  brought  in  contact  with 
an  inferior,  the  latter  j^erishes.  As  geological  science 
teaches  that  successive  eras  in  the  material  history  of  our 
globe  have  produced  steadily  progressive  forms  of  animal 
life,  adapted  to  each  new  change,  so  the  law  of  progress 
in  the  human  family  seems  to  be  that  a  race  which  has 
expanded  to  its  utmost,  filling  the  position  that  nature 
assigned  it,  when  brought  in  contact  with  a  superior  type 
of  humanity,  must  gradually  but  certainly  disappear. 
The  Caucasian  is  the  highest  type  of  mankind,  and 
wherever  it  has  appeared  the  inferior  races  have  been 
subdued  or  annihilated.  The  degree  of  resistance  which 
the  inferior  race  opposes  to  this  positive  law  is  propor- 
tioned to  its  approach  to,  or  its  remoteness  from,  the  in- 
tellectual scope  of  the  Caucasian.  The  changes  that  his- 
tory presents  in  the  different  nations  of  the  white  race, 
by  conquest  or  assimilation,  prove  nothing  against  the 
general  law.  Like  modifies  but  cannot  destroy  like.  The 
different  nations  of  the  same  type  are  improved  by  the 
mixture  of  their  elements.  The  history  of  Europe  estab- 
lishes this  fact.  It  matters  not  whether  the  Anglo-Nor- 
man or  Saxon  race  is  superior  to  all  others  of  the  Cau- 
casian tyi^e,  as  some  have  claimed,  or  not.  The  question 
is  higher  and  deeper  than  that  ;  it  is  one  of  races,  not  of 
nations. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Indians,  who  before  the 
coming  of  the  English  were  very  prolific,  soon  ceased  to 
be  so.  Sterility  became  the  rule  and  not  the  exception. 
As  the  natural  proclivity  of  mankind  is  to  evil  rather 
than  to  good,  the   inferior  race  rapidly  adopted  the  vices. 


422  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  while  it  rejected  the  religion,  and  but  slowly  apprehended 
^^^.^^^  the  arts  and  sciences  of  the  white  man.  The  Indians 
167  6.  had  attained  their  culminating  point  in  mental  and  phys- 
ical progress.  Their  intellectual  powers  admitted  of  no 
higher  development,  and  hence  they  were  doomed,  by  this 
inevitable  law  of  Nature,  to  annihilation.  They  had  ful- 
filled their  destiny,  and  this  continent  was  to  be  given  up 
to  a  higher  type  of  humanity.  Thus  has  it  beeii^in  every 
portion  of  the  world  where  the  white  race  has"  extended. 

We  do  not  present  this  as  an  excuse  for  the  wrongs 
inflicted  upon  the  aborigines  by  our  ancestors,  and  con- 
tinued upon  their  feeble  remnants  at  this  day  by  our- 
selves ;  but  we  do  say,  that  this  extinction  of  races  is 
something  in  the  Providence  of  God  which  we  cannot 
avert  if  we  would,  and  that  everywhere  the  introduction 
of  the  arts,  religion,  and  commerce  of  Caucasian  civiliza- 
tion has  been  attended  with  the  same  results.  Centuries 
may  be  required  to  accomplish  the  end,  according  as  the 
field  of  operation  is  extensive  or  limited,  and  as  the  influ- 
ence exerted  by  the  new  race  is  concentrated  or  scattered  ; 
but  the  result  is  the  same.  From  one  cause  and  another, 
some  apparent  and  others  not,  the  inferior  race  will  grad- 
ually die  out.  So  has  it  been  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
thus  is  it  progressing  to  the  Pacific.  War  does  not  do  it  ; 
the  prevalence  of  new  vices  cannot  fulh^  account  for  it  ; 
famine  and  pestilence  contribute  but  little,  in  the  aggre- 
gate towards  it,  for  all  of  these  evils  exist  as  activelj'-,  or 
more  so.  among  the  dominant  race.  The  law  that  gov- 
erns it  appears  to  be  that  which  we  have  stated,  and 
which  a  recent  writer  thus  announces,  "  that  the  organi- 
zation God  has  created  for  one  species  of  development  is 
radically  unfitted  to  receive  another."  '     That   "  other  " 

^  Confessions  of  an  Inquirer,  by  J.  J.  Jarves,  Part  I.,  p.  192.  The  writer 
regrets  that  his  limits  do  not  permit  him  to  expand  this  subject,  but  only  to 
throw  out  thus  briefly  a  view  which  is  the  result  of  some  reflection  npon  the 
most  interesting  problem  of  human  history.     The  curious  reader  will  find  a 


CONNECTICUT  RENEWS  THE  CLAIM  TO  KINGS  PROVINCE.  423 


has  now  been  for  two  centuries  at  work  npon   tliis  conti-  chap, 

nent,  and  before  its  resistless  advance  the  Indian dis-   ^^_ 

appears.     It  is  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty.  ^n"^ 

The  General  Assembly  discharged  Capt.  Fenner  and  26. 
the  Kins's  garrison  at  Providence  from  further  service. 
They  also  provided  that  all  Indians  who  should  come  2/. 
upon  any  islands  in  the  bay,  must  have  written  authority 
therefor  from  the  committee  appointed  to  dispose  of  In- 
dians, without  which  they  would  be  liable  to  be  sold  into 
service  as  captives.  The  law  of  May,  compelling  every 
man  to  bear  arms,  was  repealed,  and  that  of  1673,  ex- 
empting those  who  were  conscientiously  opposed  to  war 
from  so  doing,  was  re-enacted.  Scarcely  had  the  Indian 
war  closed  before  the  Connecticut  colony  renewed  their 
claims  to  the  Narraganset  country.  The  council  at  Hart-  Aug. 
ford,  in  addition  to  the  words  of  their  charter,  now  as- 
sumed to  hold  the  Kings  Province  by  right  of  conquest. 
The  vigor  with  which  they  had  prosecuted  the  war  con- 
trasted with  the  comparative  inaction  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  to  those  who  overlook  the  difference  in  their  respective 
positions  during  this  struggle,  the  claim  appears  reasona- 
ble. Connecticut  had  suffered  nothing  upon  her  own 
soil  by  hostile  tribes.  The  Indians  within  her  borders 
were  friendly  to  the  English,  as  the  Narragansets  had  al- 
ways been  to  Rhode  Island,  until  exasperated  by  the  wan- 
ton destruction  of  their  stronghold  by  the  United  Colo- 
nies. She  was  thus  enabled  to  send  her  troops  abroad, 
and  to  render  invaluable  services  to  her  more  distressed 
neighbors,  while  Rhode  Island,  the  most  exposed  of  the 

similar  train  of  thought  elahorated  in  chapter  xxi.  of  the  work  above  cited, 
•which  will  richly  repay  the  perusal.  The  observations  of  what  is  termed  the 
American  school  of  ethnologists,  so  far  as  they  incidentally  touch  upon  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  go  to  confirm  the  view  here  laid  down,  and  that,  too, 
altoo-ether  independent  of  the  question  mainly  involved  in  their  works,  whether 
the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  is  to  be  received  in  its  literal  signification. 
See  Types  of  Mankind,  Philadelphia,  1854.  Indigenous  Races  of  the  Earth, 
Philadelphia,  1857. 


i24  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  colonies,  doing  what  she  could  to  protect  herself,  and  ren- 
^,^.^^  dering  efficient  and  acknowledged  aid  to  the  others,  in 
16  7  6.  supplies  and  men,  according  to  her  means,  was  now  re- 
q^uired  to  pay  the  penalty  of  her  weakness,  by  surrender- 
ing the  fairest  portion  of  her  domain.     The  council  or- 
dered that  all  persons,  English  or  Indian,  who  had  any 
rights  in  Karraganset,  should  apply  to  them  for  Igave  to 
occupy  the  same,  and  whoever  should  do  otherwise  would 
be  dealt  with  severely.     The  Assembly  took  this  mat- 
ter  in    hand   as  the  first   business    of  the   session,   and 
sent  a  letter  to  Connecticut  remonstrating  in  strong  terms 
Oct.     against  the  act  of  her  council,  and  protesting  also  against 
25-      the  policy  and  conduct  of  the  late  war,  as  well  as  the  in- 
justice of  depri^dng  her  citizens  of  their  property  because 
they   had    been    comijelled    to    abandon   it    temporarily. 
27      They  also  set  up  a  prohibition  in  Narraganset,  forbidding 
any  one  to  exercise  jurisdiction  there,  or  to  dispose  of 
lands  except  by  authority  of  Ehode  Island. 

A  fatal  epidemic  prevailed  on  the  island  at  this  time, 
so  sudden  in  its  effect,  that  two  or  three  days  sufficed  to 
destroy  the  victim,  and  so  general,  that  but  few  families 
escaped  without  the  loss  of  some  of  their  number,' 
Among  the  deaths  that  occasioned  business  for  the  As- 
sembly was  that  of  James  Eogers,  who  had  been  longer 
and  more  steadily  in  public  office  than  any  other  man  in 
the  colony,  having  been  elected  for  twenty  successive 
years,  the  first  three  as  general  solicitor,  and  the  last  eigh- 
teen as  general  sergeant — for  one  year  he  filled  both  offi- 
ces.     Thomas  Fry  was  chosen  as  his  successor. 

■  See  A  Journal  of  the  Life,  &c.,  of -William  Edmundson.  London,  1713. 
After  his  first  visit  to  Rhode  Island,  before  referred  to,  in  1672,  he  returned 
to  Ireland.  In  1675  he  made  another  missionary  tour  to  the  West  Indies, 
and  thence  came  to  Rhode  Island,  made  a  journey  to  the  eastward,  and  re- 
turned to  Rhode  Island  at  tl^e  close  of  the  war,  where  he  remained  some 
time.  He  describes  this  pestilence,  and  was  himself  taken  sick  with  it  at 
Walter  Newberry's  house  in  Newport,  but  does  not  give  the  nami  of  the  dia» 
<iase. 


SALE   OF    INDIANS.  425 

A  curious  original  document  exists,  showing  the  results  chap 
of  the  sale  of  the  first  company  of  Indians  on  account  of    ..^1,^^ 
the  townsmen  of  Providence.     It  is  a  receipt  to  the  com-   i6'6-7. 
mittee  of  sale,  appointed  by  the  August  town-meeting,       i. 
signed   by  those  who  were  entitled  to  the  proceeds,  and 
showing  the  share  of  each  man,  thus  far  received,  to  be 
sixteen  shillings  and  four  pence  half  penny.  ^     The  In- 
dians caused  trouble  by  erecting  their  wigwams  and  mat 
sheds  on  the  commons  of  the  island  and  on  private  lands, 
where  they  became  disorderly  and  drunken.     Armed  In- 
dians also  passed  on  and  off  the  island  without  the  re- 
quired certificate.      The    governor   and    council   ordered 
these  wigwams  to  be  removed,  all  liquors  found  therein     22. 
to  be  seized  and  the  bottles  broken,  and  any  armed  In- 
dian found  without  a  proper  passport  to  be  brought  before 
the  magistrates.     That  the  natives  were  not  yet  entirely 
peaceable,  appears  from  the  proceedings  of  a  town-meet- 
ing at    Providence,  where   a  constant   watch  and   ward   March 
was  maintained,   and  armed  bands  or  scouting  parties, 
were  ordered  to  scour  the  woods,  and  provision  was  made 
in  favor  of  those  who  might  be  wounded  on  these  expedi- 
tions.    This  precaution  was  often  taken  in  later  times 
whenever  any  alarm  existed,  and  was  required  by  the  ex- 
posed situation  of  the  town. 

Peace  being  restored  and  planting  time  at  hand,  the 
people  of  Warwick  and  Narraganset  returned  to  their 
now  desolate  plantations.     But  the  latter  were  not  per- 
mitted to  rest  in  quietness.     Three  of  their  number  were    April 
seized  by  Capt.  Denison  and  carried  prisoners  to  Hart-  16  7  7 
ford.*^     They  immediately  informed   Gov.   Clarke  of  the 


4. 


'  The  committee  of  sale  were  Arthur  Fenner,  William  Hopkins,  and  John 
AMiippla.  jr.     Foster  Papers,  vol.  i.  MSS. 

-  Thomas  Gould,  James  Reynolds,  and  Henry  Tibbitts.  Gould  afterwards 
compounded  with  Connecticut,  and  on  14:th  ilay  petitioned  for  himself  and 
others  for  leave  to  replant  in  Narraganset,  acknowledging  the  authority  ot 
Tonnecticut.     Conn.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  540,  note. 


426  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  outrage,  soliciting  protection.  The  council  promised  re« 
lief,  and  also  wrote  to  Connecticut,  the  same  day,  de- 
manding their  release,  and  threatening  to  make  reprisals 
in  case  it  was  refused.  This  was  the  first  business  that 
occupied  the  new  General  Assembly. 

At  the  election  Benedict  Arnold  was  chosen  governor, 
in  place  of  Walter  Clarke,  and  Major  John  Cranston  was 
continued  as  deputy  governor.  The  Assembly  confirmed 
the  positions  taken  by  the  council  in  their  letters  to  the 
Narraganset  men  and  to  Connecticut,  and  took  measures 
for  the  re-settlement  of  Kings  Province,  A  court  of  Jus- 
tices was  appointed  to  be  held  in  Narraganset,  with  full 
powers  to  pi'otect  the  settlers  from  the  acts  of  the  Con- 
necticut officers.  Ten  thousand  acres  of  land,  to  be 
equally  divided  among  one  hundred  men,  were  appropri- 
ated for  new  settlers  who  should  be  ajDproved  by  the  As- 
sembly, and  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  enter  within  the 
province  except  by  authority  of  the  Court.  They  also 
addressed  another  letter  to  Connecticut,  reiterating  their 
right  to  Narraganset,  and  declaring  their  intention  to  ap- 
peal to  the  King  if  these  molestations  were  continued. 

The  election  of  Gov.  Arnold  was  a  triumph  of  the 
war  party  in  Rhode  Island.  The  militia  law  was  now 
thoroughly  revised  ;  but  lest  it  should  be  considered  as 
intrenching  upon  the  rights  of  the  Quakers,  the  preamble 
and  the  concluding  proAdso  recited  the  necessity  of  mili- 
tary defence,  and  carefully  proclaimed,  in  the  words  of 
the  charter,  the  freedom  of  conscience.  It  was  ordered 
to  be  published  by  beat  of  drum  in  all  the  towns  of  the 
colony.  The  King's  garrison,  as  it  was  called,  in  Provi- 
dence, which  had  been  discharged  in  October,  was  re-es- 
tablished in  the  veiy  words  of  the  act  by  which  it  was 
first  organized.  The  forms  of  engagement  of  officers,  and 
of  reciprocal  engagement  of  the  colony  were  redrafted,  to 
be  employed  the  next  year,  and  an  engagement  to  be  at 
once  administered  to  constables,  who  heretofore  had  never 


A    COMPROMISE    PROPOSED.  427 

been  formally  qualified,  was  adopted.     That   Sabbatarian  chap 
views  were  already  maintained  in  the  colony  is   shown  by  .^^^__ 
a  petition   presented  at  this  time  to  change   the  market  16  7  7 
day,  which  heretofore  had  been  Saturday  only.     The  As-      2 
sembly  saw  no  sufficient  reason  to  alter  the  day,  but  or- 
dered that  a  market  should  likewise  be  kept  in  Newport 
on  Thursday  of  each  week.     This  and  all  other  acts  of 
the  Assembly  were  "  published  in  the  town  of  Newport 
by  beat   of  drum,  under  the  seal  of  the  colony,  by  the 
clerk  of  the  Assembly."     An  adjournment  was  taken  to 
allow  time  for  a  reply  to  be  received  from  Connecticut, 
upon  the  most  important  business  of  the  session. 

The  Assembly  at  Hartford,  acting  upon  a  petition  of 
John  Saffin  in  liehalf  of  the  Atherton  claimants,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  meet  at  Narraganset  in  June  to  10. 
lay  out  lands,  and  also  encouraged  the  Wickford  planters 
to  return  under  their  auspices.  They  replied  to  the  two 
letters  from  Rhode  Island,  asserting  their  claims  to  juris- 
diction, and  acquiescing  in  th^  appeal  to  the  King,  but 
proposing,  in  a  postscript,  by  way  of  compromise,  that 
Cowesett,  now  East  Greenwich,  should  be  the  boundary 
between  the  two  colonies.  This  reply  not  being  satisfac- 
tory, the  General  Assembly  appointed  Peleg  Sandford  and  24 
Richard  Baily  as  agents  of  the  colony,  to  proceed  to  Eng- 
land, and  voted  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
for  their  outfit.  A  letter  was  sent,  notifying  Connecticut 
that  Rhode  Island  would  proceed  at  once  to  settle  and 
govern  Narraganset,  and  also  offering  to  that  colony  one- 
half  of  all  the  unpurchased  lands  in  the  disputed  territo- 
ry, to  be  at  their  disposal,  provided  the  settlers  thereupon 
should  submit  to  the  government  of  Rhode  Island.  This 
was  a  futile  attempt  at  compromise,  suggested  no  doubt 
by  the  proposal  made  "  for  peace  sake  "  by  Connecticut. 
The  Assembly  then  adjourned  to  the  time  appointed  by 
Connecticut  for  the  meeting  of  her  committee  in  Narra-  June 
ganset.     Upon  reassembling,  steps  were  taken  to  raise 


15. 


428  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

money  in  Newport  and  Portsmouth  for  the  expenses  of 
the  agents  to  be  sent  to  England.  The  sums  raised  were 
to  be  credited  to  account  of  the  appropriation  of  ten 
thousand  acres  in  Narraganset,  at  the  rate  of  one  shilHng 
an  acre.  The  Connecticut  committee  met  on  the  same 
day  in  Narraganset,  examined  the  coimtiy,  and  reported 
to  their  government  concerning  the  quality  and  ojynership 
of  the  lands.  The  proceedings  of  the  Court. of  Justices 
held  by  Rhode  Island  are  not  preserved,,  although,  upon 
its  rising,  the  Assembly  was  again  convened  by  warrant 
of  the  Governor,  and  ordered  that  the  transactions  of  that 
20.  Court  should  be  a  part  of  the  public  records.  The  coun- 
cil of  Connecticut  replied,  rejecting  the  offer  of  land,  and 
renewing  their  proposal  to  make  Cowesett  the  boundary 
between  the  two  charters. 
Oct.  At  the  fall  session  of  the  Assembly  the  law  requiring 

^1-  deputies  to  take  an  engagement  on  entering  upon  the  du- 
ties of  their  office,  was  repealed.  It  had  been  just  five 
years  in  operation,  was  stoutly  opposed,  especially  by  the 
mainland  towns,  at  the  time  of  its  passage,  and  had 
caused  much  hard  feeling  ever  since.  There  seems  to  us 
no  valid  reason  for  all  this,  but  the  cause  assigned  for  the 
repeal  was  that,  as  every  freeman  had  already  engaged 
true  allegiance  to  the  King  and  colony  upon  his  admission, 
it  was  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  ceremony  upon  his  tak- 
ing office.  This  shows  a  degree  of  respect  for  the  nature 
of  an  oath  or  engagement,  more  creditable  to  the  morals 
of  our  ancestors,  than  is  the  constant  and  frivolous  admin- 
istration of  oaths,  in  judicial  and  commercial  affairs  at 
this  day,  to  ourselves.  A  tract  of  five  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  Narraganset  was  laid  out  in  two  parts,  one  of  five 
hundred  acres  on  the  bay,  for  house  lots,  and  the  remain- 
der in  farms  of  ninety  acres  each,  and  distributed  among 
fifty  men,  who  were  now  incorporated  as  the  town  of  East 
Greenwich.  The  parties  were  to  build  upon  their  lots 
within  one  year  or  lose  the  land,  and  no  one  was  to  sell 


DEATH    OF    GORTON.  429 

his  land  (vithin  twenty-one  years,  unless  by  consent  of  tlie  chap. 
Assembly,  on  pain  of  forfeiture.  They  were  also  to  lay  .^J.^!^ 
out  convenient  roads  from  the  bay  up  into  the  country.        16  7  7. 

The  death  of  Samuel  Gorton,  the  founder  of  War- 
wick, which  occurred  at  this  time,  should  not  be  passed 
over  in  silence.  He  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men 
that  ever  lived.  His  career  furnishes  an  apt  illustration 
of  the  radicalism  in  action,  which  may  spring  from  ultra 
conservatism  in  theory.  The  turbulence  of  his  earlier 
history  was  the  result  of  a  disregard  for  existing  law,  be- 
cause it  was  not  based  upon  what  he  held  to  be  the  only 
legitimate  source  of  power — the  assent  of  the  supreme 
authority  in  England.  He  denied  the  right  of  a  people 
to  self-government,  and  contended  for  his  views  with  the 
vigor  of  an  unrivalled  intellect,  and  the  strength  of  an 
ungoverned  passion.  But  when  this  point  was  conceded, 
by  the  securing  of  a  patent,  no  man  was  more  submissive 
to  delegated  law.  His  astuteness  of  mind  and  his  Bibli- 
cal learning  made  him  a  formidable  opponent  of  the  Pu- 
ritan hierarchy,  while  his  ardent  love  of  liberty,  when  it 
was  once  guaranteed,  caused  him  to  embrace  with  fervor 
the  principles  that  gave  origin  to  Rhode  Island.  He  lived 
to  ''  a  great  age."  The  time  of  his  birth  is  not  certainly 
known,  and  the  precise  day  of  his  death  is  equally  ob- 
scure. "  The  exact  spot,"  says  his  biographer,  "  where 
his  ashes  repose,  is  marked  by  no  pious  stone  or  monu- 
mental marble.  Yet,  if  without  other  honors,  may  it  at 
least  ever  be  their  privilege  to  sleep  beneath  the  green 
sward  of  a  free  State  !  "' 

A  combination  of  local  disputes,  relating  in  the  first 
instance  to  proprietary  rights,  then  involving  questions 
of  boundary  between  Providence  and  Pawtuxet,  and 
finally  extending  beyond  the  present  county  of  Provi- 
dence, had  commenced  almost  with  the  first  settlement  of 

*  He  died  between  27th  Nov.  and  10th  Dec,  1677.     Mackie's  Life  of  Gor- 
ton, chap.  viii.  in  Spariis'  Am.  Biog.,  vol.  xv.  pp.  378,  380. 


430  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    EHODE   ISLAND. 

the  town,  and  now  assumed  a  magnitude  and  importance 
that  bring  them  within  the  legitimate  province  of  State 
history.  The  details  of  these  disputes  are  prolix  and  un- 
interesting. A  survey  of  their  chief  points  is  all  that 
we  propose  in  this  place.'  They  originated  in  a  differ- 
ence of  construction  put  upon  the  deeds  of  Canonicus  and 
Miantinomi  to  Roger  Williams,  and  which  was  further 
complicated  by  a  memorandum,  added  the  following  year, 
confirming  the  same.  The  last  clause  in  the  deed  con- 
tained the  words  of  disputed  interpretation,  "  we  do  freely 
give  unto  him  all  that  land  from  those  rivers,^  reaching 
to  Pawtuxet  river,  as  also  the  grass  and  meadows  upon 
the  said  Pawtuxet  river,"  which  the  confirmation  made 
still  more  inexact  by  the  words,  "  up  the  streams  of  Paw- 
tucket  and  Pawtuxet  without  limits,  we  might  have  for 
our  use  of  cattle."  Hence  arose  a  question,  in  after  years, 
whether  the  tract  whose  limits,  in  the  confirmation  clause, 
were  thus  general  and  undefined,  formed  a  part  of  the 
purchase,  or  whether  it  was  merely  a  grant  of  the  right 
of  pasturage  to  the  head  waters  of  the  two  last-named 
rivers,  with  the  fee  still  reserved  in  the  grantors.  It  was 
a  question  of  no  importance  at  first,  but  when  the  town 
increased  it  gave  rise  to  bitter  dissensions,  one  party  main- 
taining the  former  view,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Wil- 
liam Harris,  while  the  other,  with  Roger  Williams  as  its 
leader,  sustained  the  rights  of  the  Indians.  Williams 
had  made  the  original  purchase  for  himself,  before  the 
settlement  of  the  town,  and  two  years  later  drew  this 
deed  or  memorandum,  which  does  no  credit  to  his  legal 
acquirements.  He  however  must  have  known  better  than 
any  one  else  what  it  did  mean  ;  but  a  party  already  ex- 
isted against  him  who  pressed  their  views  with  unneces- 
sary asperity.     When  the  Legislature,  or  "  Court  of  Com- 

'  The  reader  will  find  a  more  full  account  of  these  divisions  and  dispute* 
than  is  here  given,  in  Judge  Staples'  Annals  of  Providence,  chap.  x. 
'  Mooshausick  and  Wanasquatucket. 


PROVIDEXCE    AND    PAWTUXET    BOUNDAIiY    DISPUTE.  431 

missioners,"  as  it  was  styled  under  tlie  old  patent,  author-  chap, 
ized  the  town  to  buy  otf  the  Indians,  and  to  add  three  .^,,.1^ 
thousand  acres  to  their  territory  by  purchase  from  the  sa-  167  7. 
chems,'  the  town  negotiated  with  the  natives  to  obtain 
their  removal,  and  in  that  year  took  three  deeds,  from  the 
successors  of  Canonicus  and  Miantinomi,  more  clearly  de- 
fining the  disputed  western  boundary  of  the  colony.'-  The 
two  parties  viewed  these  conveyances  in  different  lights  ; 
one  considered  them  as  simple  confirmations  of  the  origi- 
nal grant,  the  other  as  a  new  purchase.  If  they  were 
only  confirmations  the  whole  tract  belonged  to  the  origi- 
nal proprietors  of  Providence,  who  were  the  owners  of 
what  was  called,  in  the  division  of  lands  into  two  parts,  ^ 
"  the  Pawtuxet  purchase."  But  if  these  were  in  fact 
new  purchases,  the  fee  vested  equally  in  those  members 
of  the  corporation  who  had  been  admitted  since  the  first 
grand  division  of  lands.  It  is  readily  seen  how  important 
it  was  to  each  party  that  the  settlement  of  this  question 
should  be  in  its  favor.  Again,  whichever  way  this  dispute 
of  title  might  be  settled,  the  deeds  were  so  vague,  and 
the  rights  exercised  under  them  were  so  varied  and  un- 
limited, that  nothing  definite  coitld  be  agreed  upon  as  to 
the  limits  of  the  first  grand  di\dsion — where  "  the  grand 
purchase  of  Providence  "  ended  and  "  the  Pawtuxet  pur- 
chase "  began.  An  attempt  had  been  early  made  to  de- 
termine this  boundary,^  but  the  line  had  never  been  run 
out,  nor  could  it  be,  owing  to  the  vagueness  of  the  deed, 

'  May,  1659,  ante,  chap.  viii. 

-  Tlie  first  of  these  was  given  by  Cawjaniquante,  brother  of  Miantinomi, 
May  29th.  1659.  It  confirmed  the  old  grant  and  defined  it  as  extending  from 
Fox's  hill,  twenty  miles  in  a  straight  line  up  between  Pawtucket  and  Paw- 
tuxet rivers.  His  son  acknowledged  the  deed  28th  April  following.  The 
other  two  deeds,  from  resident  sachems  of  the  same  family,  were  given  13th 
Aumist  and  1st  December,  confirming  the  first  one,  and  granting  the  lands  in 
fee  simple  but  with  less  exactness  of  boundary.  All  three  deeds  are  printed 
La  Staples'  Annals,  p.  567-70. 

5  Made  Oct.  8tb,  1638,  ante  ch.  iv. 

*  July  27th,  16i0,  ante  ch.  iv. 


432  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   both  as  to  the  nature  and  the  limits  of  the  rio-hts  coO' 
^^^J.,^  veyed  m  the  conchiding  clause.     To  restore  peace  among 
1  6  7  7.  the  distracted  townsmen  Roger  Williams  made  a  proposi- 
tion '  for  a  new  purchase  from  the  Indians,  and  a  separate 
settlement  in  the  disputed  territory.     This  was  rejected 
by  Thomas  Olney,  William  Harris,  and   Arthur  Fenner, 
in  behalf  of  the  town.'^     A  majority  of  the  town  having 
decided  ^  that  the  later  deeds  were  simply  confirmatory, 
the  Pawtuxet  purchasers  paid  one-quarter  of  the  cost,^ 
''  and  the  town  limits  were  agreed  to  be  at  a  point  twenty 

miles  west  of  Fox  hill.  A  committee  of'  three  from  each 
place  was  named  to  run  the  line  ^  between  Providence  and 
Pawtuxet,  and  seven  years  afterward  they  made  a  partial 
report  covering  less  ground  than  was  claimed  by  the  Paw- 
tuxet men,  having  ceased  their  surveys  westward  at  a 
point  afterwards  known  as  "  the  seven  mile  line."  Mean- 
while William  Harris  made  a  voyage  to  England,  to  ob- 
tain justice  from  the  King,  but  with  no  definite  results.* 

.  The  disputes  between  Providence  and  Pawtuxet  re- 
lated solely  to  title,  the  whole  tract  being  within  the 
township  of  Providence  ;  but  soon  after  the  purchase  of 
Warwick  questions  involving  both  title  and  jurisdiction 
arose,  the  former  between  the  purchasers  of  Warwick  and 
of  Pawtuxet,  the  latter  between  the  towns  of  Providence 
and  Warwick.  The  Pawtuxet  men  were  thus  placed,  as 
it  were,  between  two  fires.  Legal  measures  were  early 
resorted  to  by  the  conflicting  claimants  for  title.     Nu- 

'  27th  Oct.,  1660.         2  29th  Oct.,  1660.         ^  March,  1660. 

■*  The  one-quarter  paid  to  the  Indians  by  the  Pa^vtuxet  purchasers  for 
these  confirmation  deeds  amounted  to  twelve  pounds  one  shilling  and  eight 
pence,  as  appears  by  an  agreement  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  parties, 
composed  of  Roger  Williams,  Richard  Waterman,  Z.  Rhodes,  John  Brown, 
James  Allen,  and  William  Harris,  in  August,  1663.  Se3  MSS.  papers  ot 
Willinin  Harris,  in  possession  of  W.  J.  Harris,  Esq. 

»  April,  1661. 

'  In  1663,  the  evidence  of  which  is  in  a  bill  of  costs  presented  by  him 
against  the  town  of  W^arwick  to  the  Court  of  Commissioners,  17th  Nov.,  1677, 
preserA-ed  in  the  Harris  MSS. 


FUETHER   DISPUTES   AND   LITIGATION.  433 

merous  suits  for  trespass  were  brought  in  various  Courts,  chap. 
without  regard  to  jurisdiction.^  Cross  suits  were  msti-  .^^^^^^ 
tuted  and  counter  writs  of  ejectment  were  issued,  with  no  167  7. 
possibility  of  an  unbiassed  decision,  owing  to  the  mode  in 
which  the  tribunals  were  constituted,  the  whole  commu- 
nity br^ing  jjarties  in  interest,  either  directly  or  contin- 
gently, in  every  case,  nor  with  any  power  to  enforce  a 
judgment,  for  the  same  reason.  The  progress  of  these 
various  suits  may  be  traced  with  great  minuteness  in  the 
voluminous  files  of  the  Harris  manuscripts.  William 
Harris  was  generally  successful  in  obtaining  verdicts,  but 
could  rarely  obtain  execution,  or  have  process  served,  un- 
der them.  The  officers  were  sometimes  resisted  by  the 
contesting  claimants,  at  others  the  awards  of  arbitrators 
or  the  decrees  of  Court  failed  to  be  carried  out.  He 
spent  half  his  life  in  this  fruitless  litigation,  the  details 
of  which,  covering  more  than  thirty  years,  would  be  te- 
dious to  the  reader,  and  unimportant  to  the  purpose  of 
this  work.  So  inextricable  was  the  confusion,  and  so 
pressing  the  difficulties  arising  from  these  complicated 
sources,  that  William  Harris,  as  agent  for  the  Pawtuxet 
proprietors,  at  length  resolved  to  go  a  second  time  to 
England,  to  petition  the  King  for  a  special  commission  to 
decide  upon  them.  The  petition  was  referred  to  the 
Board  of  Trade.-  It  set  forth  the  rival  claimants  to  por- 
tions of  the  Pawtuxet  lands,  and  prayed  that  the  gover- 
nors of  the  four  New  England  colonies,  or  such  men  as 
they  might  appoint,  with  a  jury  chosen  in  part  from  each 
colony,  should  settle  all  diflerences  in  the  premises.^  The 
mission  was  successful.     A  royal  order  was  issued  to  the 

'  The  Pawtuxet  subjects  of  Massachusetts  in  1650  sued  W.  Harris  for 
trespass,  and  judgment  was  rendered  for  the  defendant  July  31.  Harris  was 
himself  one  of  the  Pawtuxet  proprietors. 

2  On  June  11th,  1675. 

'^  The  petition  of  1675,  with  the  order  upon  it  issued  4th  August,  and  the 
royal  letter  to  the  four  governors,  dated  August,  1675,  is  entered  in  the  Brit- 
ish State  Paper  Office,  New  England  papers,  vol.  xxxiL  pp.  38-47. 

VOL.  1—28 


434  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF   EHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  four  governors  who,  after  some  delay,  appointed  commis- 
,,._^  sioners  to  hear  the  disputes.'     They  met  at  Providence, 
1677.  and  empanelled  a  jury    of  four  from  Massachusetts,  two 
3  ■     from  Plymouth,  and  three  each  from  Khode  Island  and 
j^         Connecticut.     The  Court  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  Prov- 
17.      idence,  where  five  cases  were  tried,  three  against  private 
parties  for  trespass,  the  other  two  against  the  -towns  of 
Warwick  and  Providence,  to  compel  them,  to  run  the 
boundary  lines  before  agreed  on,  and  to  decide  the  title  of 
lands   on  either  side  of  these    lines.       William  Harris, 
Thomas  Field,  and  Nathaniel  Waterman  were  the  plain- 
tiffs, and  Harris  was  the  attorney  for  Pawtuxet,  in  all 
these  cases.     Randall  Holden  and  John  Greene  were  ap- 
pointed 2  by  the  town  of  Warwick  to  defend  her  cause. 
Roger  Williams,  Gregory  Dexter,  and  Arthur  Fenner  ap- 
peared in  behalf  of  Providence.     The  trials  occupied  four 
days,  and  resulted  in  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiffs  on  every 
case.^     The  town  of  Warwick,  being  cast  in  the  suit,  at 
once  aj^pointed  *  their  two  attorneys,  as  agents,  to  proceed 
to  England  to  represent  their  case  before  the  throne,  and 
21.     to  protest  against  the  second  verdict  of  the  jury.     War- 
rants were  issued  to  compel  execution  of  the  verdicts,  but 
the  question  of  costs  was  reserved  for  advisement  with  the 
resj)ective  governors,  the  Court  doubting  its  powers  to  is- 
sue execution  for  them. 

In  order  to  present  these  controversies,  so  far  as  they 
have  a  public  interest,  in  a  compact  form,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  pass  somewhat  beyond  the  period  to  which  this 
chapter  is  limited,  condensing  as  much  as  i)Ossible  the  pro- 

'  These  were  Simon  Lynde  and  Daniel  Henchman  of  Mass.,  Thomas 
Hinckley,  Esq  ,  and  James  Cudworth,  Esq.,  of  Plymouth,  Capt.  George  l)en- 
ison  and  Daniel  Witherell  of  Conn.,  Peleg  Sandford,  Esq.,  and  John  Cogges- 
hall,  of  R.  I. 

'^  Oct.  1,  1677.     See  Warwick  records. 

*  The  pleadings  in  full  are  preserved  among  the  Harris  MSS. 

*  29th  Nov.,  1677.  See  Warwick  records,  and  their  commissions  were 
read  and  approved  in  town  meeting,  1 8th  January. 


THE   VERDICTS   UNEXPLAINED.  436 

ceedings  of  the  next  two  or  three  years  upon  these  cases,    chap. 
and  then  leave  the  subject  for  ever.  — 4~- 

To  decide  the  question  of  costs,  the  Court  met  at  Bos-  16  7  8. 
ton,  but  the  Connecticut  members  being  absent,  it  was  ad-      23"^ 
journed  to  meet  at  Providence.     The  eight  commissioners 
assembled  there,  but  found  that  nothing  had  been  done    Jmre 
about  running  the  line  between  Providence  and  Pawtuxct 
in  accordance  with  the  verdict,  which  required  it  to  be  run 
by  the  defendants  '"equally  between  Pawtuxet  river  and 
Wanasquatucket  river,  till  they  meet  a  thwart  line  from 
the  head  of  Wanasquatucket   river,  directly  running  to 
Pawtuxet  river."     An  imperfect  line,  contrary  to  the  in- 
tent of  the  Court's  order,  had  been  surveyed  between  the 
two  rivers,  a  map  of  which  was  presented  by  Mr.  Fenner, 
but  rejected  by  the  Court,  as  being  unfair  towards  the 
plaintiffs  ;  as  the  thwart  line  was  drawn  to  intersect  it  at 
an  acute  instead  of  a  right  angle.     The  Court  summoned 
the  jury  to  appear  in  October,  and  explain  their  verdict  in 
this  case,  the  third  in  the  order  of  trial.     At  this  meeting,     Oct. 
one  of  the  commissioners  being  absent,  the  two  from  Ehode      2. 
Island  withdrew,  deeming  the  Court  disqualified  to  act  un- 
less every  member  was  present.     The  others,  considering 
a  quorum  to  be  sufficient,  proceeded  to  act.     The  jurors 
were  all  present,  but  the  three  from  Khode  Island  refused 
to  explain  the  verdict.     The  other   nine    explained    the 
meaning  of  their  third  verdict,  that  the  two  lines  were  to 
intersect  at  right  angles.     Still,  as  some  of  the  Court  were 
absent,  and  others  doubted  their  power,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, to  issue  warrants  to  enforce  its  execution,  as 
now  explained,  the  whole  matter  was  referred  back  to  the 
king,  and  a  full  statement  of  the  case  was  prepared  and 
sent  to  England  by  Governor  Leverett.' 

^  This  long  statement  details  the  manner  in  which  the  Court  and  jury  were 
(Onstructed,  the  five  verdicts  rendered,  and  all  subsequent  proceedings  of  the 
rommissioners.  It  is  entered  in  New  England  papers,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  296. 
Br.  S.  P.  0. 


436  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Holden  and  Greene  went  to  England  to  protest  against 
the  second  verdict,  whicli  required  the  town  of  WarwicK 

1678-9.  and  certain  individuals  in  it,  as  tenants  by  force,  to  restore 
2.  the  land,  with  one  hundred  pounds  damages,  to  the  plain- 
tiffs. They  obtained  an  arrest  of  judgment  by  royal  de- 
cree, till  Harris  should  prove  title  before  the  king  in  coun- 
cil. Scarcely  had  they  left  London  to  return  home,  when 
Harris  appeared,  for  the  third  time  in  England,  to  urge 
the  cause  which  law  and  justice  had  so  often  decided  in 
his  favor.  Exceptions  had  been  taken  by  the  Warwick 
agents  against  having  referees  from  Massachusetts  or  Con- 
necticut, by  reason  of  their  former  difficulties  with  War- 
wick men,  and  a  valid  objection  was  now  made  by  Harris 
■against  any  Rhode  Island  referees,  as  being  interested  par- 

,  -  -  „    ties.     The  council  therefore  recommended  that  the  Magis- 

15(9.  *^ 

June    trates  of  Plymouth  colony  should  decide  the  questions  be- 

^^-     tween  Warwick  and  Pawtuxet,  and  that  Rhode  Island  be 

required  to  put  Harris  in  possession  of  his  lands  under  the 

other  four  verdicts,  within  three  months  from  the  time  of 

receiving  the  order,  or  otherwise  that  Plymouth  should  see 

julv  it  done.  An  order  to  this  effect  passed  the  council,  and 
2-  letters  were  prepared  in  accordance  therewith.'  Thus 
Harris  was  again  triumphant  before  the  highest  tribunal 
in  the  realm,  but  justice  was  still  withheld.  Governor 
Winslow  gave  the  parties  a  hearing  and  decided  in  favor 
of  Harris,  confirming  the  verdict  against  Warwick."^  The 
governor  and  council  of  Rhode  Island  received  the  royal 
3Q  ■  order  brought  over  by  Harris,  and  placed  a  warrant  in  the 
hands  of  the  marshal,  to  execute  judgment  in  accordance 

Nov.    with  the  verdicts.     This  he  attempted  to  do,  but  it  would 

'  The  report  in  full  is  entered  in  New  England  papers,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  346, 
S.  P.  0.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec.,  iii.  66. 

^  Oct.  28th  Gov.  Winslow  summoned  the  parties  interested  in  the  second 
verdict,  and  after  a  full  hearing  confirmed  the  action  of  the  Court  of  Com-' 
missioners  in  favor  of  Harris.  On  2d  Nov.  he  sent  a  report  of  the  case  to  the 
King,  now  preserved  among  the  Harris  MSS.,  giving  a  clear  statement  of  the 
questions  involved  ia  that  case,  and  the  reasons  of  his  decision. 


DEATH    OF    WILLIAM    HAERIS.  437 

seem  that  the  plaintiiFs  themselves  refused  to  receive  pos-  chap. 
session  except  in  the  terms  of  the  verdict,  which  required   .^.^^^^^ 
the  defendants  to  run  the  lines.     This  they  had  not  done,  1679. 
and  the  marshal  properly  refused  to  do  it,  although  urged 
to  do  so  by  the  plaintiffs.     At  any  rate,  the  plaintiffs  failed 
to  point  out  the  lands,  and  the  marshal  made  his  return     ^^' 
in  accordance  with  these  facts.     The  truth  of  this  return 
was  denied  by  the  plaintiffs  who  collected  evidence  to  im- 
peach it.     Harris,  resolute  amid  all  these  obstacles,  im- 
mediately sailed  for  England  for  the  fourth  time.     On  this      25. 
occasion,  besides  his  Pawtuxet  business,  he  was  the  accred- 
ited agent  of  Connecticut   in  her  claim  against  Rhode    i679-so. 
Island  for  the  Narraganset  country.     The  ship  was  cap-     24.' 
tured  by  a  Barbary  corsair,  and  he,  and  other  prisoners, 
were  taken  to  Algiers,  and  sold  in  public  market  as  slaves. 
For  more  than  a  year  he  remained  in  this  sad  situation,   1681. 
when  his  ransom  was  effected  at  a  cost  of  twelve  hundred 
dollars.     The  colony  of  Connecticut  became   responsible     F®^- 
for  the  whole  amount  and  contributed  handsomely  towards 
it.     The  money  was  afterwards  refunded  by  his  family. 
Landing  at  Marseilles  in  the  summer  he  travelled  through 
France,  and  broken  down  by  the  trials  of  Turkish  bondage, 
died  in  three  days  after  reaching  London. 

Thus  perished  one  of  the  strong  men  of  Rhode  Island. 
He  filled  a  large  space  in  the  early  histoiy  of  the  colony, 
as  an  active,  determined  man,  resolute  in  mind  and  vig- 
orous in  body,  delighting  in  conflict,  bold  in  his  views  on 
the  political  dogmas  of  his  time,  fearless  in  his  mode  of  ex- 
pressing them,  striking  always  firmly,  and  often  rashly,  for 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  right,  and  denouncing  with  the 
energy  of  a  concentrated  intellect  all  men  or  measures 
that  did  not  conform  to  his  ideas  of  truth  or  of  justice. 
His  controversy  with  Roger  Williams,  we  have  before  re- 
ferred to.  It  was  never  forgotten,  and  scarcely  forgiven, 
by  either  of  these  great  men,  and  presents  the  darkest  blot 
that  rests  upon  their   characters.     The   public  career  oi 


438  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

Harris  was  almost  uninterrupted,  except  by  his  frequent 
voyages,  and  these  were  always  upon  official  business.     As 

1G81.  an  assistant  or  a  deputy,  his  name  constantly  occurs  in 
connection  with  important  trusts,  and  no  man,  unless  it  be 
his  great  opponent,  has  left  a  deeper  mark  upon  the  rec- 
ords of  his  State.  ■ 

1682.  The  year  following  his  death,  another  attempt  was 
made  to  settle  the  controversy  between  Providence  and 
Pawtuxet  by  mutual  agreement.  The  line  agreed  upon 
narrowed  the  limits  of  the  Pawtuxet  purchase  more  than 
any  previous  attempt  at  adjustment  had  done.  The  same 
committee  were  to  settle  the  Warwick  dispute.  Both  at- 
tempts failed,  and  the  line  between  Providence  and  War- 
wick was  finally  settled  by  the  legislature  in  1696,  as  it 
now  exists,  making  the  Pawtuxet  river  the  boundary. 
This  gave  to  Providence  jurisdiction  over  the  litigated 
tract,  which  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  stream  included 
in  a  bend  of  the  river.  The  other  controversy  was  main- 
tained at  great  cost,  agents  being  employed  in  England, 
and  hearings  had  before  the  royal  council  as  late  as  1706, 
all  to  no  practical  result.  It  was  finally  settled  by  com- 
promise in  May,  1712,  when  the  line  was  run  and  bounds 
set  up,  reducing  still  further  the  limits  of  the  Pawtuxet 
purchase.  The  moral  conveyed  in  the  result  of  this  pro- 
tracted and  costly  litigation  is  apparent. 


THE    STRUGGLE    RENEWED. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

1678—1686. 

FROM  THE  RENEWAL  OF  THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  SOIL  OF 
RHODE  ISLAND,  1677-8,  TO  THE  SUSPENSION  OF  THE  CHAR- 
TER,   JUNE,  1686. 

CHAP 

There  are  many  periods  of  Khode  Island  history,  xi. 
some  of  which  we  have  already  passed,  that  could  not  be  ^^'  ' 
truly  written  without  a  free  access  to  the  archives  of  the 
British  government.  To  no  period  does  this  remark  ap- 
ply more  fully  than  to  that  upon  which  we  entered  at  the 
close  of  the  preceding  chapter.  The  Harris  controversy 
is  scarcely  referred  to  in  the  State  records,  the  council 
minutes  having  been  sent  to  England  as  evidence.  The 
struggle  for  jurisdiction  that  was  now  to  be  resumed  on 
every  side  against  ilhode  Island,  was  soon  transferred  to 
the  English  Court,  in  whose  archives  alone  its  progress 
can  be  correctly  traced.  The  disasters  sufiered  by  Ilhode 
Island  during  Philip's  war,  furnished  the  occasion  for  a 
renewal  of  the  disputes  that,  with  one  exception,  had 
been  definitely  settled  by  the  royal  commissioners  of  1664. 
Even  Connecticut,  as  we  have  seen,  had  acquiesced  for  a 
time  in  the  decision  of  Sir  Kobert  Carr,  but  soon  took 
esceptions  to  that  settlement  based  upon  the  absence  of 
Col.  Nichols,  governor  of  New  York,  who  was  induced, 


4'10  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  upon  no  valid  grounds,  to  dissent  from  the  unanimous 
^^  decree  of  his  colleagues  in  favor  of  Rhode  Island.  The 
war  had  for  a  time  suspended  the  dispute  in  regard  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  Narraganset,  but  now  her  claims  were  put 
forward  with  increased  energy,  on  the  new  ground  that  it 
belonged  to  her  by  right  of  conquest — the  same  reason 
that  had  formerly  been  jDut  forth  by  Massachusetts  after 
the  Pequot  war.  Massachusetts  also  enterjed  the  field 
again  as  a  claimant,  in  behalf  of  the  heirs  of  the  Ather- 
ton  company  ;  and  Plymouth,  not  satisfied  with  the  de- 
cision that  bounded  her  upon  Narraganset  bay,  until  the 
King's  pleasure  should  be  further  known,  injudiciously 
sought  to  re-open  the  question,  assigning  reasons  for  so 
doing  that  may  well  excite  surprise.  Thus  the  ancient 
controversies  with  all  her  neighbors  were  re-opened,  and 
Rhode  Island,  weakened  by  pestilence  and  wasted  by  war, 
was  again  involved  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

It  is  not  enough  to  say  that,  after  nearly  seventy  years 
of  further  contest,  she  came  out  more  than  victorious 
over  all  her  opponents,  not  only  retaining  the  territory 
which  they  sought  to  wrest  from  her,  but  adding  some- 
thing to  it  from  two  of  them  at  least ;  but  we  must  trace 
the  progress  of  the  struggle,  if  we  would  have  even  a 
faint  idea  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  her.  At  one  time 
it  will  appear  as  if  all  was  lost,  and  that  the  colony  must 
be  absorbed  by  her  ambitious  sisters,  and  again  the  recu- 
perative energy  of  the  sturdy  "heretics"  will  seem  to 
have  already  won  the  battle.  The  plan  of  having  resi- 
dent agents  in  London  soon  came  from  necessity  to  be 
adopted  by  each  of  the  New  England  colonies,  the  record 
of  whose  acts,  in  many  cases,  can  only  be  found  among 
the  archives  of  the  home  government. 

While  the  era  upon  which  we  now  enter  is  memorable 

■  for  the  above-named  causes,  the  present  year  is  not  less 

remarkable  for  the  changes  wrought  by  death  in  the  chief 

magistrates  of  the  colony.     No  less  than  three  different 


TAX    LAW   AMENDED.  441 

governors  filled  that  place  within  five   months,  two  of    chap. 
whom  died  in  office.     The  lapse  of  forty  years  was  telling   ,jj^^ 
the   tale   of  mortality   upon  the  founders  of  the   State.   16  7  8. 
The  first  generation  of  Khode  Islanders  was  fast  passing 
away. 

The  force  of  the  colony  at  this  time  was  from  one  May 
thousand  to  twelve  hundred  freemen  able  to  bear  arms. ' 
At  the  election  Benedict  Arnold  was  again  chosen  gover- 
nor, and  Major  John  Cranston  deputy  governor.  Gov. 
Arnold  was  then  too  ill  to  attend  the  Assembly,  so  that 
the  engagement  was  administered  to  him  by  a  committee 
at  his  own  house.  The  tax  law  was  further  modified  at 
this  session,  and  as  taxation  without  representation  was 
one  of  the  prime  grievances  which,  a  century  later,  roused 
the  American  colonies  to  arms,  it  is  important  to  notice 
how  early  and  deeply-rooted  was  this  idea  in  the  Rhode 
Island  mind,  and  how  frequently  it  appears  ui3on  the  stat- 
ute book  of  the  State.  By  an  existing  law  "^  no  tax  could 
be  assessed  without  a  full  representation  of  deputies  from 
all  the  towns.  This  was  now  amended  so  as  to  require 
legal  notice  to  be  given,  by  warrant  from  the  governor,  to 
every  town,  that  a  tax  was  to  be  assessed,  without  which 
notice  no  levy  could  be  made.^  Since  the  creation  of  the 
office  of  major,  during  Philip's  war,  the  choice  of  that 
officer  had  devolved  upon  the  militia,  but  this  was  now 
changed,  and  all  freemen  were  admitted  to  vote  upon  the 

Report  of  Sir  Edmund  Andres  to  Board  of  Trade  received  9th  April, 
1 678,  in  reply  to  queries  on  the  state  of  the  Xew  England  colonies,  addressed 
to  him  the  day  previous.  A  rough  draft  of  ths  seventeen  queries  is  filed  in 
Br.  S.  P.  0.  New  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  140,  and  the  original  answer  on  pp. 
149,  150.  By  this  the  relative  strength  of  the  colonies  may  be  ascertained. 
Sir  E.  A.  had  lately  returned  from  America,  where  he  had  been  governor  of 
New  York.  He  estimates  Connecticut  force  at  3000,  Rhode  Island  1000  to 
1200,  Plymouth  1000  to  1500,  and  Massachusetts  8  to  10,000. 

^  Passed  Nov.  6th,  1672. 

^  It  was  soon  found  necessary  to  repeal  this  act.  The  struggle  to  main- 
tain the  rights  of  the  colony  in  England  often  required  money  to  be  raised  to 
meet  emergencies,  which  could  not  be  done  promptly  under  this  statute.  It 
was  therefore  repealed  in  July,  1679. 


12. 


442  HISTOEl"    OF    THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  question,  provided  they  personally  appeared  to  do  so,  upon 
.^^1^  election  day.  A  permanent  court-martial  for  the  trial  of 
1C78.  delinquent  soldiers  was  instituted,  to  consist  of  the  major 
and  a  majority  of  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  several 
military  companies  in  the  colony.  A  bankrupt  law  was 
also  passed,  based  upon  the  statutes  of  Elizabeth  and 
James.  Five  men  were  chosen  as  commissioners  of  bank- 
rupts, who  were  sworn  to  make  a  just  and  proportionate 
distribution  of  insolvent  estates  among"  the  creditors. 
They  were  to  notify  parties  interested  to  present  their 
claims,  and  had  full  power  to  do  all  acts  necessary  to  the 
fulfilment  of  their  commissions. '  This  law,  for  some  rea- 
son not  apparent,  could  not  stand  the  test  of  the  first  case 
Jnne  that  was  brought  up  for  action  under  it,  and  was  repealed 
within  sis  weeks,  at  the  beginning  of  the  adjourned  ses- 
sion of  the  Assembly.  The  conflict  of  land  titles  in  Nar- 
raganset,  among  private  owners  as  well  as  townships,  led 
the  Assembly  to  order  a  survey  and  plats  to  be  made  of 
the  several  tracts.  They  also  required  all  purchasers, 
who  held  by  Indian  titles,  to  present  their  deeds  to  be 
passed  upon  by  the  Assembly,  in  order  that  the  vacant 
lands  might  be  known  and  should  not  be  settled  upon  ex- 
cept by  their  order.  Fast  riding  within  the  compact 
parts  of  Newport  was  forbidden  under  a  penalty  of  five 
shillings,  on  account  of  an  accident  from  that  cause  which 
had  lately  occurred.  Constables  were  re-appointed  for  the 
towns  in  Kings  Province. 

A  greater  accuracy  in  the  terms  employed  in  framing 
statutes  is  observable  at  this  time.  The  additional  words, 
"  and  by  the  authority  thereof  be  it  ordained,  enacted, 
and  declared,"  appended  to  the  enacting  clause  of  a  law, 
which  surplusage,  with  slight  modifications,  continued  in 
use  till  a  very  recent  date,  appear  for  the  first  time  at 

*  The  commissioners  of  bankrupts  were  the  deputy  governor,  Major  John 
Cranston,  the  general  treasurer,  Peleg  Sandford,  John  Coggeshall,  the  genera) 
recorder,  John  Sandford,  and  the  attorney -general,  Edward  Richmond. 


DEATH  OF  GOVERNOR  ARNOLD.  443 

this  session.  Again,  the  law  of  1647  which  empowered  chap. 
the  town  councils  to  appoint  an  "  executor  "  upon  the  es-  vJ-./^ 
tate  of  a  deceased  intestate,  was  amended  by  substituting  16  7  8, 
for  that  term  "  the  word  administrator  ;  it  being  in  that  jg. 
case  the  more  proper  and  usual  term  in  the  law."  Among 
the  curiosities  of  legislation  may  here  be  cited  the  con- 
cluding clause  of  an  act  making  a  final  settlement  of  the 
accounts  of  the  late  general  sergeant,  which  it  seems  were 
so  involved  as  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  auditing 
committee  to  strike  a  balance.  It  was  therefore  voted  to 
call  the  accounts  square,  "  and  that  by  this  act  there  is  a 
full  and  fynall  issue  of  all  differences  relating  to  the  said 
accounts  from  the  beginninge  of  the  world  unto  this  pres- 
ent Assembly  !  "  A  more  comprehensive  statute  cannot 
well  be  imagined.  The  military  power,  which  during  the 
war  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  town  councils, 
was  now  taken  from  them,  and  vested  more  completely  in 
the  major-general,  who  could  call  out  all  the  troops  for 
exercise  at  his  pleasure,  and  was  subject  only  to  the  orders 
of  the  Assembly,  the  governor,  deputy-governor,  or  their 
council. 

Scarcely  had  the  Assembly  adjourned  when  Gov.  Ar-  ^^ 
nold  died.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  Newport  for  twen- 
ty-five years,  having  removed  from  Providence  during  the 
division  that  continued  in  the  colony  for  more  than  a 
year  after  the  revocation  of  Coddington's  commission,  and 
was  very  instrumental  in  effecting  the  subsequent  recon- 
ciliation and  union  of  the  towns.  From  that  time  he 
was  almost  constantly  in  public  office,  first  as  a  commis- 
sioner from  Newport  and  then  as  assistant.  For  five 
years  he  was  President  of  the  colony  under  the  old  patent, 
and  was  named  in  the  second  charter  as  governor,  which 
affice  he  filled  at  seven  different  times  by  popular  election.' 
His  liberal  views  and  thorough  appreciation  of  the  Rhode 

'  He  was  elected  a  commissioner  in  1654,  1656 — assistant  in  1655,  1660- 
61— president  in  1657-8-9,  1662-63— governor  in  1663-4-5-9,  1670-l-7'7 
and  78,  and  died  in  his  sixtj-fourth  year. 


444  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  Island  idea  of  intellectual  freedom,  appear  in  the  letters 
w-^  that,  as  president  of  the  colony,  he  wrote  in  reply  to  the 
16  7  8.  arrogant  demands  of  the  United  Colonies,  when  they  urged 
20.      the  forcible  expulsion  of  the  Quakers.'     That  he -was  no 
friend  of  the  doctrines,  or  advocate  of  the  conduct,  of  the 
followers  of  Fox,  is  evident  from  his  writings  ;  hut  that, 
like  Williams,  he  recognized  the  distinction  between  per- 
secution and  opposition,  between  legal  force;  and  moral 
suasion,  as  applied  to  matters  of  opinioir,  is  equally  ap- 
parent.    In  politics  and  theology  he  was  alike  the  oppo- 
nent of  Coddington  and  the  friend  of  John  Clarke,  and 
throughout  his  long  and  useful  life  he  displayed  talents 
of  a  brilliant  order,  which  were  ever  employed  for  the  wel- 
fare of  his  fellow-men. 
July  Active  demonstrations  were  soon  made  both  here  and 

in  England  by  the  several  claimants  for  the  soil  of  Rhode 
Island.  The  first  of  these  proceeded  from  Plymouth  in 
a  letter  to  the  King,  recounting  the  disasters  sustained 
by  that  colony  during  the  war.  It  goes  on  to  say,  "our 
neighbors  of  Rhode  Island  were  once  so  ungrateful,  after 
we  had  freely  given  them  the  said  island,'^  to  accommodate 
them  in  their  distress  when  banished  by  the  Massachu- 
setts, that  by  misinformation  they  obtained  from  your 
Majesty  a  good  quantity  of  the  best  of  our  land  on  the 
maine,  the  same  that  we  now  call  conquest  lands,  but 
better  informed  by  your  commands,  you  were  pleased  to 

'  These  two  letters  are  printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  i.  pp.  37()-80. 

''  The  claim  here  set  up  that  Aquidueek  was  "  freely  given,"  is  somewhat 
jemarkable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  when  Williams  and  Clarke,  with  the  An- 
tinomian  committee,  went  to  Plymouth  early  in  March,  1637—8,  to  inquire 
about  their  contemplated  settlement  at  Sowams,  that  spot  was  claimed  "  as 
the  garden  of  Plymouth  patent,"  and  the  applicants  v/ere  advised  to  select  the 
other  location,  which  they  had  also  in  view,  Aquidneck,  because  it  was  be- 
yond the  limits  of  Plymoutlj  patent.  See  Clarke's  Narrative,  or  111  News 
from  New  England,  p.  24-5,  and  ante  chap.  ii.  Now,  forty  years  later, 
they  claim,  to  the  King,  that  the  island  was  "  freely  given,"  and  charge  Rhode 
Island  with  being  "  ungrateful "  for  the  signal  favor  of  having  received  at 
their  hands  what  they  admitted  at  the  beginning  did  not  belong  to  them. 


ACTS   OF   PLYMOUTH    AND   MASSACHUSETTS.  445 

return  it  again  to  us.     We  have  reason  to  fear  they  are   chap. 
coveting  it,  or  part  of  it,  again,  and  it  may  bee   some  of    ..Jtj^^ 
them  will  pretende  to  have  a  right  of  purchase  of  the  In-  167  8. 
dians,  &c."     It  next  assails  the  conduct  of  Khode  Island 
during  the  war,  in  these  words:   "The  truth  is  the  au- 
thority of  Rhode  Island  being  all  the  time  of  the  warr  in 
the  hands  of  Quakers,  they  scarcely  showed  an  English 
spirit,  either  in  assisting  us,  their  distressed  neighbors,  or 
relieving  their   own   j)lantations  upon  the   Mayne,'  but 
when,  by  God's  blessing  upon  our  forces,  the  enemy  was 
routed  and  almost   subdued,  they  tooke  in  many  of  our 
enemyes  that  were  flying  before  us,  thereby  making  profit 
by  our  exj)ence  of  blood  and  treasure,"  &c.'^ 

These  extracts  indicate  the  spirit  of  the  opponents  of 
Ehode  Island,  and  the  new  line  of  policy  they  had  adopted 
to  obtain  their  ends. 

The  proceedings  of  Massachusetts  and  of  her  agents 
in  England  were  equally  decisive.  A  printed  advertise- 
ment was  struck  off  in  Boston,  and  soon  afterward  posted  ^q 
in  the  town  of  Newport,  signed  by  a  committee  of  the 
Narraganset  proprietors,  in  right  of  the  Atherton  pur- 
chasers, offering  for  sale,  upon  advantageous  terms  to  ac- 
tual settlers,  tracts  of  land  in  that  country,  and  describing 
it  as  being  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.^ 

'  There  is  more  truth  than  poetry  in  this  clause  of  the  sentence,  and  in- 
deed it  is  the  only  truth  contained  in  the  whole  paragraph.  But  if  the  main- 
land towns,  appreciating  the  reasons  of  the  neglect  they  certainly  experienced 
from  the  island,  failed  to  complain  very  much  about  it,  we  see  no  cause  why 
Plymouth  should  vex  herself  in  their  behalf;  and  it  comes  with  an  ill  grace 
from  one  of  the  United  Colonies  when  they  had  wantonly  made  Pihode  Island 
their  battle  ground,  and  then  failed  to  leave  a  garrison  within  her  borders  af- 
ter the  great  swamp  fight. 

-This  letter,  dated  13th  July,  1677,  and  signed  "Nath.  Morton,  Secy.,  by 
order  of  the  Great  Court,"  is  entered  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.  New  England  papers, 
vol.  xxxiii.  p.  5. 

^  This  handbill  is  signed  by  Simon  Bradstreet,  John  SafBn  and  Elisha 
Hutchinson,  and  is  preserved  in  New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  46.  Br.  S. 
P.  0.,  and  printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  vol.  iii.  p.  18,  from  a  copy  in  Mr. 
Brown's  MSS. 


446  HISTOEY   OP   THE   STATE   OP   RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  course  pursued  by  Holden  and  Greene,  as  the 
agents  of  Warwick  in  the  Harris  case,  opened  the  whole 

16  78.  discussion  of  the  past  conduct  of  Massachusetts.  They 
had  protested  against  having  any  Massachusetts-  referees 
in  a  matter  where  their  town  was  concerned.  This  drew 
an  answer  from  the  agents  of  that  colony,'  wherein  they 
incautiously  ventured  upon  a  sketch  of  the  early  history 

Aug.  of  Warwick,  defending  the  acts  of  Massachusetts,  assail- 
ing the  character  of  the  petitioners,  and  charging  Rhode 
Island  with  disloyalty  upon  sundry  occasions.  This  was 
an  unfortunate  train  of  argument  for  the  respondents  to 
adopt.  The  Warwick  men  at  once  retorted  with  great 
.^  severity  in  a  petition,  relating  the  facts  of  the  case,  ex- 
posing the  fallacies  of  their  opponents,  repelling  their  at- 
tacks upon  the  loyalty  of  Rhode  Island,  adducing  record 
proofs  of  the  disloyalty  of  Massachusetts,  and  concluding 
with  a  series  of  requests  ;  first,  that  a  Supreme  Court  of 
judicature  over  all  the  colonies  may  be  erected  in  New 
England,  whereby  equal  justice  may  be  rendered,  boun- 
dary disputes  be  adjusted,  and  civil  war,  which  must  oth- 
erwise result  from  "  the  oppressions  of  an  insulting  and 
tyrannical  government,"  may  be  averted ;  second,  that 
the  royal  letter  of  1666,  confirming  the  acts  of  the  com- 
missioners in  behalf  of  Rhode  Island,  may  be  renewed  ; 
third,  that  Connecticut  may  be  compelled  to  restore  the 
town  of  Westerly,  lately  taken  from  Rhode  Island  by 
force  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  decisions  of.  Massachusetts 
against  Warwick  men,  especially  the  decree  of  banish- 
ment against  Randall  Holden,  now  of  thirty-five  years 
standing,  may  be  annulled.'^  •  The  petition  was  accompa- 
nied by  a  number  of  documents  going  back  to  the  pur- 

'  William  Stougliton  and  Peter  Bulkely.  Their  answer  is  of  the  same 
date  in  London  as  the  haildbill  in  Boston,  July  30th,  1678.  The  original 
paper  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  vol.  iii.  p.  47,  of  New  England  papers. 

"  The  original  of  this  masterly  state  paper,  os  conclusive  as  it  is  severe, 
is  filed  in  the  Br.  S.  P.  0.     New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p.24:-7. 


COUNTER   ACTS   OF   RHODE   ISLAND.  447 

chase  of  Warwick,  and  corroborating  the  positions  ad- 
vanced by  its  authors.^ 

The  General  Assembly  at  the  adjourned  session  pro-  16  7  8. 
ceeded  at  once  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  office  of  gover-  28?" 
nor,  and  William  Coddington  was  chosen.  A  committee 
waited  upon  Mrs.  Arnold,  widow  of  the  deceased  gover- 
nor, to  obtain  the  charter  and  other  public  papers,  late  in 
the  official  custody  of  her  husband.  Attention  was  called 
to  the  Atherton  handbill,  which  had  been  set  up  in  Nar- 
raganset  by  John  Saffin,  one  of  the  signers,  "  whoe  forth- 
with fled  otF  the  island  from  the  hands  of  justice."^  A 
declaration  of  ownership  by  Ehode  Island,  and  prohibi- 
tion to  all  persons  against  settling  upon  the  lands  without 
leave  of  the  Assembly,  was  immediately  passed  ;  copies 
of  it  were  sent  to  every  town  in  the   colony,  to  be  posted 

'  These  documents  are  not  filed  with  the  petition,  but  are  found  scattered 
amonj^f  the  papers  in  the  same  and  other  vohimes,  with  other  evidence  pre- 
sented at  different  times  by  Holden  and  Greene,  upon  these  and  other  points 
connected  with  their  mission.  Seven  of  these  documents  are  contained  in 
pages  2  to  6  of  the  same  vol.  iii.  of  New  England  papers,  viz.,  Submission  of 
Narragansets,  19th  April,  10-1:4.  Reception  thereof  by  the  commissioners, 
20th  March,  1664.  Warning  sent  by  Warwick  to  Massachusetts  men, 
28th  Sept.,  161.3.  Sentence  of  Massachusetts  Court  against  Gorton,  3d 
Nov.,  1643.  Naming  and  bounding  of  Kings  Province,  20th  March,  1664. 
Appointment  of  Rhode  Island  officers  as  justices  there,  8th  April,  1665. 
Cartwright's  letter  to  Gorton,  26th  May,  1665.  The  facts  of  which  these 
and  many  other  papers  deposited  at  this  period  are  confirmatory  evidence  wo 
have  stated  in  their  proper  place,  but  have  not  before  mentioned  where  the 
official  copies,  if  sought  for,  may  be  found.  Although  sent  originally  by 
Warwick  upon  the  Hams  land  case,  the  general  business  of  the  colony  soon  fell 
into  their  hands.  The  colony  agents,  Sandford  and  Bailey,  appointed  24th 
May,  1677,  did  not  go  to  England.  The  Warwick  men  showed  themselves 
fully  competent  for  the  most  difficult  labors  of  negotiation  or  of  defence,  and 
upon  their  return  the  Assembly,  in  July,  1679,  voted  them  the  s\im  of  sixty 
pounds,  of  which  forty-five  pounds  had  been  disbursed  by  them  on  the  colo- 
ny's account  in  England,  and  the  balance  was  for  their  passage  home. 

-  He  was  afterwards  arrested  and  imprisoned  under  a  warrant  issued  by 
Gov.  Cranston,  14th  April,  1679.  MS.  files  of  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  and  a  let- 
ter was  sent  by  Massachusetts  to  Rhode  Island,  3d  June,  demanding  his  re- 
lease— Trumbull  papers,  vol.  xxii.  No.  95 — but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it  by 
the  Rhode  Island  Assembly.     He  was  tried,  fined,  and  his  estate  forfeited. 


448  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

in  conspicuous  places,  and  the  act  was  published  by  beat 
of  drum  in  the  town  of  Newport. 

16  7  8.  A  case  involving  the  question  of  the  revising  power  of 
the  Assembly  over  the  proceedings  of  the  General-Court  of 
Trials,  which  has  since  been  .often  agitated  in  this  State, 
was  presented  ;  the  action  upon  which  shows  that  the  im- 
portance of  an  independent  judiciary  was  felt  at  t4iat  early 
day,  and  that  the  Assembly  clearly  understood-  their  legit- 
imate powers,  and  had  no  desire  to  exceed  them.  The 
case  of  Sandford  against  Forster  had-  been  twice  legally 
tried  by  the  Court,  when  one  Colson  petitioned  the  legis- 
lature, in  behalf  of  the  defendant,  for  a  reversal  of  judgment. 
We  quote  the  language  of  the  vote  upon  this  petition  : 
"  This  Assembly  conceive  that  it  doth  not  properly  belong 
to  them,  or  anywise  within  their  recognizance,  to  judge  or 
to  reverse  any  sentence  or  judgment  passed  by  the  Gener- 
all  Court  of  Tryalls,  according  to  law,  except  capitall  or 
criminall  cases,  or  mulct  or  fines." 

Oct.  When  the  next  regular  session  of  the  Assembly  was 

held,  Governor  Coddington  was  on  his  death-bed.  "  He 
died  November  1st,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age,  a 
good  man,  full  of  days."  '  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  in- 
tellect, of  strong  passions,  earnest  in  whatever  he  under- 
took, and  self-reliant  in  all  his  actions.  Such  a  man  could 
not  fail  to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  any  community. 
He  was  one  of  the  Assistants  of  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
pany in  England,  came  over  with  it  to  America,  and  was 
a  leading  merchant  in  Boston,  where  he  built  the  first  brick 
house.  With  the  larger  number  of  the  more  liberal  and 
educated  people  of  that  town,  he  espoused  the  Antinomian 
views,  and  upon  the  overthrow  of  that  cause,  emigrated  to 
Aquedneck,  which  island  he  purchased  in  his  own  name 
for  himself  and  associates.  He  was  made  the  first  judge 
or  chief  magistrate  of  the  new  colony,  and  continued  to  be 
its  governor  till  the  union  of  the  towns  under  the  first 

'  Cullender's  Dedication,  p.  62,  K.  I.  H.  C,  iv. 


30. 


DEATH  OF  GOVERNOR  CODDINGTON,  449 

pateut.  In  Newport  he  was  the  first  person  who  ever  en-  chap. 
gaged  in  commerce.  The  distraction  that  prevailed  in  the  .^.^^^ 
colony  was  no  doubt  the  motive  of  his  voyage  to  England  16  7  8. 
to  obtain  a  commission  as  governor  of  the  island  for  life. 
This  was  a  direct,  and  as  the  event  proved,  an  unwarranted 
usurpation,  in  which  he  was  opposed  by  Clarke,  Arnold,  and 
nearly  all  the  freemen  of  the  island,  and  for  which  we  can 
best  account  in  the  words  of  one  ivho  thoroughly  appreci- 
ated the  principles  and  the  men  of  early  Rhode  Island. 
"  He  had  in  him  a  little  too  much  of  the  future  for  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  a  little  too  much  of  the  past  for  Rhode 
Island,  as  she  then  was."  '  After  the  revocation  of  his 
power  he  led  a  retired  life  for  many  years.  During  this 
interval,  he  embraced  the  views  of  the  Friends,  and  was 
distinguished  for  his  zeal  in  their  cause,  and  the  vigor  with 
which  he  combated  those  who  differed  from  his  opinions. 
Latterly  he  had  engaged  to  some  extent  in  pubUc  affairs. 
He  was  once  elected  deputy  governor  and  three  times  gov- 
ernor, in  which  office  he  died,^ 

The  Assembly  adjourned  till  the  following  Monday,       4. 
when  Conanicut  island  was  incorporated  as  a  township, 
and  called  JamestoAvn  in  honor  of  King  James.  Another  ad- 
journment then  took  place,  probably  for  the  funeral  of  Gov. 
Coddington,  after  which  the  chief  business  of  the  session 

was  transacted.     The  demity  governor,  John  Cranston,  was       ^ 

to 
then  elected  Grovernor,  and  the  first  Assistant  from  New-      15 

port,  James  Barker,  was  chosen  deputy  governor.  Each 
took  the  engagement  to  his  new  office  and  was  formally  ab- 
solved from  his  previous  official  engagements.  The  two 
Assistants  next  to  Barker  were  each  raised  one  step  with- 
out taking  a  new  engagement,  and  a  third  Assistant,  Caleb 
Carr,  was  elected  and  engaged.     The  charter  and  other 

'  Chief  Justice  Durfee's  Historical  Discourse,  p.  1 6. 

*  He  was  a  deputy  from  Newport  in  March,.  1666,  and  an  assistant  in  Oc- 
tober of  that  year.  In  1673  he  was  chosen  deputy  governor,  and  the  two 
following  years  governor,  and  again  in  August,  1678,  by  the  Assembly. 

VOL.  I — 29 


450  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

papers,  as  usual,  were  obtained  from  Mrs.  Coddington  and 
placed  in  custody  of  the  new  governor.  The  duplicate 
copy  of  the  charter,  which  had  hitherto  been  kept  by  John 
Clarke,  was  also  obtained  from  his  executors,  and-  has  ever 
since  been  preserved,  first  in  the  custody  of  the  deputy 
governor,  and  then  by  the  General  Assembly  in  the  Secre- 
tary's office.^ 
15.  A  rate  of  three  hundred  pounds  was  laid.  .-  As  this  was 

the  first  tax  assessed  since  the  war,  the  great  disproportion 
observed  in  its  allotments,  indicates  the  relative  degree  in 
which  the  towns  had  suffered.  A  comparison  of  this  with 
previous  taxes  will  show  how  recent  events  had  affected 
the  prosperity  of  different  portions  of  the  colony.  New- 
port was  assessed  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  pounds,  Ports- 
mouth sixty-eight.  New  Shoreham  and  Jamestown  each 
twenty-nine,  Providence  ten,  Warwick  eight,  Kingston 
sixteen,  one-half  of  which  was  afterwards  remitted.  East 
Greenwich  and  Westerly  two  pounds  each.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  while  every  town  bore  its  share,  the  two  towns 
on  Aquedneck  paid  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
levy,  the  three  islands  together  paid  seven-eighths  of  the 
tax,  and  the  five  mainland  towns  less  than  one-eighth. 
So  great  a  disproportion  has  never  been  observed  before  or 
since.  The  prices  placed  upon  articles  of  food  and  rai- 
ment, in  commutation  of  this  tax,  give  us  valuable  infor- 
mation as  to  the  cost  of  living  at  this  time.  Fresh  pork 
was  valued  at  two  pence  a  pound,  salted  and  well  packed 
pork,  fifty  shillings  a  barrel,  fresh  beef  twelve  shillings  a 
hundred  weight,  packed  beef,  in  barrels,  thirty  shillings  a 

'At  the  January  session  of  the  present  year,  1858,  it  was  '-Resolved, 
That  the  Secretary  cause  the  original  charter,  granted  to  this  State  when  a 
colony,  by  King  Charles  II.,  and  the  copy  thereof,  to  be  framed  and  protected, 
in  such  manner  as  to  ensure  their  preservation  ;  and  that  he  deposit  the  du- 
plicate of  said  cliarter  in  the  cabinet  of  tlie  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society, 
for  safe  keeping  ;  and  that  the  cost  of  such  frames  be  allowed  and  paid  out 
of  tlie  State  Treasury,  upon  the  order  of  the  State  auditor."  This  has  ac- 
cordingly been  done. 


THE   WARWICK   AGENTS   IN   ENGLAND.  451 

hundred,  pease,  and  barley  malt,  two  and  sixpence  a  bush- 
el, corn  and  barley,  two  shillings,  washed  wool,  sixpence  a 
pound,  and  good  firkin  butter,  five  pence.'  Most  of  this 
tax  was  paid  in  wool,  and  the  price  reduced  to  five  pence. 
A  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Commissioners 
at  Providence  upon  the  Harris  land  cases,  jDresented  by 
the  two  Rhode  Island  members  of  that  tribunal,  was  or- 
dered to  be  forwarded  to  his  Majesty,  which  was  done,  with 
a  letter  from  the  governor.'^ 

The  Warwick  agents  were  fully  employed  at  this  time,  '" 
not  only  with  theii-  immediate  business,  but  in  a  defence 
of  the  rights  of  the  colony,  incidentally  forced  upon  them 
by  her  opponents.  Eichard  Smith,  in  behalf  of  the  Nar- 
raganset  proprietors,  had  sent  a  petition  to  the  King,  set- 
ting forth  the  Connecticut  claim,  and  the  defenceless  con- 
dition of  Rhode  Island  during  the  war,  and  praying  that 
their  country  with  the  adjacent  islands,  Conanicut,  Dutch, 
Patience,  and  Hope,  might  be  restored  to  Connecticut. 
The  matter  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  Hol- 
den  and  Greene  were  called  upon  for  information  on  the 
subject,  and  to  answer  the  averments  of  the  petitioners.^ 
This  they  did,  in  behalf  of  the  colony,  with  signal  ability, 
defending  the  claim  of  Rhode  Island  under  the  charter, 
and  vindicating  her  conduct  in  the  war.*  The  printed  ad- 
vertisement of  the  Narraganset  lands,  having  been  sent  out 

'  A  comparison  of  this  tax  with  that  levied  for  the  same  amount  in  June, 
1670,  forcibly  illustrates  the  changes  ■wrought  by  the  war.  A  like  com- 
parison of  prices  with  those  cun'ent  in  Oct.,  1670,  shows  a  large  decUne 
in  all  the  staple  articles  of  life,  while  the  relative  values  of  English 
and  colonial  currency,  as  there  stated,  remained  about  the  same,  and 
hence  the  reduction  of  sterling  to  federal  money,  there  given,  will  answer  for 
this  period. 

*  The  letter  is  filed  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  344. 

*  The  original  petition  and  order  in  council  thereupon,  July  3d,  1678,  are 
m  New  England  papers,  voL  iii.  p.  38-40,  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  and  are  printed  in  R 
I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  50-1. 

*  The  original  paper  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  42 — 
printed  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  60-2. 


452  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,   to  Holden  and  Greene,  was  presented  by  them  to  the  royal 
^^'  ,  council,  and  an  order  was  at  once  issued  for  the  Massachu- 

1 13  78,  setts  agents  to  appear  and  show  upon  what  title  the  lands 
^^'  were  claimed.'  Staughton  and  Bulkeley  inforjned  the 
council  that  it  was  a  private  .  claim.  This  admission,  to- 
gether with  the  representations  of  Holden  and  Greene  in 
answer  to  Smith's  petition,  were  embodied  in  an.  order  of 
13_  council,"^  issued  the  same  day,  requiring  that  notice  should 
be  sent  to  New  England  to  leave  Kings, Province  in  its 
present  condition,  and  that  those  who  claimed  ownership 
or  jurisdiction  there,  should  forthwith  send"  agents  to  prove 
their  rights  before  the  King.  The  following  week,  upon 
20  petition  of  Randal  Holden,  a  peremptory  order  was  issued 
annulling  the  sentence  of  banishment  passed  by  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Court  against  Holden  and  his  associates,  the 
men  of  Warwick,  thirty-five  years  before,  and  command- 
ing the  said  Court  to  repeal  the  same  and  to  allow  these 
persons,  at  all  times,  free  access  within  their  jurisdiction. 
The  terms  of  this  order  were  unusually  dec'ided,  and  indi- 
cate a  strong  feeling  of  condemnation,  in  the  royal  coun- 
cil, at  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  Massachusetts  towards  the 
adherents  of  Gorton. ^ 
g  The  Warwick  men  having  concluded  their  mission  in 

Jan.  England  were  about  to  return  home,  when  another  matter 
occurred  to  cause  their  delay  for  a  few  weeks.  John 
Crowne  petitioned  for  the  grant  of  Mount  Hope,  lately 
conquered  from  the  Indians,  as  an  offset  to  losses  sustain- 
ed by  his  family  in  the  King's  service  in  Acadia.*  A 
note  was  addressed  by  the  council  to  the  agents  of  Massa- 
chusetts and    of  Warwick,  inquiring  about  the  extent, 

■  This  order  is  entered  in  vol.  xxxii.  p.  295,  New  England  papers,  Br.  S. 
P.  O.     See  R.  I.  Col.  Kec,  iii.  62. 

''  New  England  papers,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  308,  Br.  S.  P.  0.  R.  I.  Col.  Rec, 
iii.  63. 

'  The  original  petition  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p. 
49,  and  the  order  upon  it  is  in  vol.  xxxii.  p.  312. 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  62. 


24, 


CLAIMANTS    OF    MOUNT    HOPE.  453 

value,  and  proprietorship  of  Mount  Hope,'     To  this  Hoi-  chap. 

den  and  Greene  replied  that  the  tract  contained  about  four  ^^ ^:^ 

thousand  acres,  was  worth  as  many  pounds,  and  that  the  16  7  9. 
propriety  was    in   the    King.     Staughton   and    Bulkeley      3^  ' 
estimated  it  at  about  six  tliousand  acres,  could  not  judge 
of  the  value,  and  claimed  that  it  was  included  in  Plymouth 
patent.^     The  diversity  of  these  rej)lies  led  the  council  to      ^* 
order  that  inquiries  on  the  same  points  be  made  to  the 
four  colonies  in  the  same  letter  that  was  preparing  to  be 
sent  to  them  concerning  Narraganset.^     This  letter,  draft- 
ed in  accordance  with  the  order  in  council  of  two  months 
before,  recapitulated  the  points  in  dispute  about  Narra- 
ganset,  and  required  claimants  to  send  agents  to  England      12. 
to  prove  their  rights.     It  also  made  inquiries  about  Mount 
Hope,^  and  became,  as  we  shall  see,  a  fruitful  source  of 
contention  in  a  few  months.' 

At  the  next  General  Assembly  all  the  towns  except  g^* 
Westerly  and  Kingstown  were  represented  by  deputies. 
As  we  have  before  stated,  it  was  the  custom  to  organize 
on  the  day  previous  to  the  election  in  order  to  admit  free- 
men. Those  who  had  been  received  as  freemen  of  the 
towns  were,  on  these  occasions,  made  freemen  of  the  colony. 
Although  in  fact  but  one  session,  the  two  Assemblies,  one 
meeting  the  day  before  and  the  other  upon  election  day, 
were  technically  considered  as  distinct  bodies,  as  indeed 
they  were,  and  the  towns  chose  their  deputies  for  the 
spring  sessions  to  attend  both  Assemblies.     The  changes 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  18.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  38. 

^  The  originals  of  these  two  replies  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol. 
iii.  pp.  50,  53.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  37-8. 

«  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  336.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  38. 

*  The  Mount  Hope  matter  was  settled  in  favor  of  Plymouth,  by  Report  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  4th  Dec,  1679,  approved  by  the  Council  21st  Dec  Br. 
S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  34-7,  and  confirmed  by  royal  letter,  l2th 
Jan.,  1679-80,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  315 — granting  their  petition  of  1st  July,  1679, 
vol.  xxxiii.  p.  15,  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  64-6. 

^  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxu.  p.  338.  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  40. 
1  M.  H.  C,  V.  221.- 


454  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   made  on  election  day  were  among  the  general  officers  and 
^^'      Assistants,  who  were  chosen  by  popular  vote.   The  meetings 
I G  7  9.  of  the  Assembly  were  held  at  hotels  or  in  private  houses. 
*^     The  vote  of  those  present  was  by  ballot,  collected.in  a  hat. 
Proxy  votes  were  opened  by  a  committee,  and  the  Re- 
corder made  a  list  of  the  names  of  all  those  who  voted. 
7.       At  this  election,  the  ohoice  of  John  Cranston  as  .governor, 
made  by  the  Assembly  upon  the  death  of  Coddington,  was 
confirmed  by  the  people,  and  Walter  Clarke  was  elected 
deputy  governor. 

A  custom  had  grown  up  "  among  sundry  persons,  being 
evill-minded,"  of  overworking  their  own  servants,  and  of 
hiring  other  men's  servants  and  under-letting  them,  to  la- 
bor on  Sunday.  A  law  was  passed  to  prevent  this  inhu- 
manity, and  also  to  forbid  gaming,  sporting,  and  tippling 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  under  penalty  of  the  stocks, 
or  a  fine.  The  frauds  j^ractised  by  sailor  landlords  upon 
seamen,  caused  a  law  to  be  passed  that  no  such  person, 
who  should  trust  a  sailor,  that  had  been  shipped,  for  a 
sum  greater  than  five  shillings,  without  an  order  from  his 
captain,  could  recover  the  debt  ;  and  should  he  attempt 
to  do  so  he  rendered  himself  liable  for  damages  at  the  suit 
of  the  master.  The  master  of  every  vessel  of  over  twenty 
tons  burthen  was  required  to  report  himself  to  the  head  of- 
ficer of  the  town  upon  arrival  and  departure,  and  if  over  ten 
days  in  port  then  to  set  up  notice  in  two  public  places  in 
the  town  three  days  before  sailing.'  This  act  was  passed  in 
view  of  the  English  acts  of  trade  and  navigation  which 
afterwards  became  so  fruitful  a  source  of  contention  be- 
tween the  mother  country  and  her  American  colonies. 

The  colony  now  adopted  the  rule  of  paying  the  neces- 
sary expenses  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  also  of 
the  Court  of  Trials,  for  board  and  lodging  during  their  at- 

'  This  latter  regulation  still  exists  in  some  countries  and  is  applied  to  all 
travellers,  who,  as  in  Russia  at  this  day,  must  advertise  their  intention  tc 
leave,  that  creditors  may  have  lull  notice. 


RENEWED    STRIFE    FOR    KINGS    PROVINCE.  455 

tendance.     The  sums    collected   by  fines  and  forfeitures  chap. 
were  apjiropriated  to  this  purpose.     The  law  of  1658  to  .^...-^ 
prevent  innovation  in  the  government  of  the  colony  was  16  7  9. 
revised,  pronouncing  forfeiture  of  the  entire  estates  of  all     "  ' " 
persons  who  should  subject  their  lands,  lying  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  this  colony,  to  that  of  any  other  government. 
There  was  ample  occasion  for  severe  legislation  upon  this 
point.     The  settlement  of  Narraganset  by  Rhode  Island 
men  had  attracted  the  attention  of  Connecticut,  and  drawn 
from  that  colony  a  letter  demanding  the  recall  of  those 
settlers  ;  to  which  Ehode  Island  replied,  regretting  a  re- 
newal of  the  strife,  but  asserting  her  claim,  and  looking 
for  justice  to  God  and  the  King.'     The  General  Assembly 
of  Connecticut  appointed  officers  in  Narraganset,  and  em-      8. 
powered  the  governor  and  council  to  punish  intruders,  to 
treat  with  Rhode  Island,  and  to  settle  the  country. 

U]3on  the  return  of  the  Warwick  ag-ents  bearins:  the 

T    1 

royal  letter  of  inquiry  concerning  Narraganset  and  Mount  g  ^ 
Hop3,  the  governor,  by  warrant,  convened  the  Assembly. 
A  prohibition  was  sent  to  Westerly  and  Kingstown  for- 
bidding any  persons  from  there  exercising  authority  under 
any  other  government,  and  requiring  all  the  residents  of 
Kings  Province  to  render  obedience  to  this.^  The  mao-is- 
trates  were  required  to  hold  courts  in  Kings  Province  as 
often  as  the  governor  should  see  cause,  the  better  to  en- 
force the  King's  commands.  The  arrival  of  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  governor  of  New  York,  being  daily  expected,  pro- 
vision was  made  for  his  reception  at  the  pubhc  expense. 
He  was  then  on  his  way  home,  and  was  making  the  tour 
of  New  England  under  orders  to  report  upon  the  condition 
of  these  colonies.  It  happened  fortunately  for  Rhode 
Island,  when  a  few  years  later  she,  with  the  rest  of  New 

*  The  two  letters,  dated  April  7th  and  21st,  1679,  are  in  vol.  i.  p.  240-4 
of  MS.  copies  of  Conn,  records  in  the  cabinet  of  the  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc. 

'^  The  prohibition  is  entered  upon  the  records,  and  is  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii. 
40-2. 


19. 


29 


456  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

England,  was  placed  under  his  government,  that  this 
timely  civility  had  been  shown  to  the  royal  governor  ; 
but  at  this  time  no  such  calamity  could  have  been  antici- 
pated. 

A  warrant  was  issued  for  the  arrest  of  Richard  Smith 
on  account  of  his  petition  to  the  King  on  behalf  of  Con- 
necticut. He  was  to  be  examined  preparatory  to-drafting 
the  letter  that  was  to  be  sent  to  England  in  reply  to  the 
royal  missive  brought  by  Holden  and  Greene.  A  survey  of 
Mount  Hope  was  ordered  to  be  made  for  the  same  purpose, 
and  other  examinations,  in  respect  to  Narraganset,  were 

2^-  made  on  each  side  of  the  question.  The  testimonies  of 
John  Greene  and  of  Roger  Williams  were  taken  upon  the 
facts  of  the  first  settlement  of  Narraganset  by  Richard 
Smith,  and  a  lengthy  petition  was  signed  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  people  of  Narraganset  praying  that  they  may  be 
erected  into  a  distinct  government.'  The  letter  of  Rhode 
l^'  Island  to  the  King  was  accompanied  by  a  plan  of  Mount 
Hope,  which  tract  was  supposed  to  contain  about  seven 
thousand  acres  and  was  valued  at  three  thousand  pounds, 
and  it  asked  that  Kings  Province  may  be  preserved  to 
Rhode  Island  as  accorded  in  the  charter."  The  United 
Colonies  in  their  reply  to  the  royal  letter  claimed  Mount 
Hope  for  Plymouth  and  Narraganset  for  Connecticut, 
and  indulged  in  the  usual  vituperation  of  Rhode  Island.-* 

Sept.  A  court  was  held  at  Westerly,  in  his  Majesty's  name, 

by  the  magistrates  of  Rhode  Island,  at  which  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  King  and  fidelity  to  the  colony  was  ad- 
ministered, and  signed  by  thirty-three  freemen.  The  Con- 
necticut Court  for  that  county  was  then  sitting  at  New 
London.  A  protest  was  sent  by  Governor  Leete  upon  this 
subject.     A  prompt  reply  was  returned  by  Governor  Cran- 

'  These  papers  are  all  iiled  in  Br.  8.  P.  O.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  pp.  44, 
68,  69,  66.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec.,  iii.  52,  56-60. 

-  Original  of  this  letter  is  in  New  England  papers,  vol.  iii.  p.  59,  in  Br.  S, 
P.  O.,  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii  43-6,  1  M.  H.  C,  v.  223. 

U  M.  H.  C,  v.  226.     Not  found  in  Br.  S.  P.  0. 


KINGS   PROVINCE    DISPUTE.  4.57 

ston,  justifying  the  proceedings  of  the  Ehode  Island  Court,   chap 
The  same  energetic  course  was  pursued  by  the  Court  of     *^^" 
Trials.     John  Baffin,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  obnoxious  167  9 
handbill,  before  described,  and  who  had  posted  the  same      ^^^' 
in  Newport,  having  been  arrested,  was  imprisoned,  tried, 
and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  and  to  forfeit  his  estates  in 
Narraganset.     Richard  Smith  was  arraigned  at  the  same 
term  but' discharged,  owing  to  a  flaw  in  the  indictment/ 

The  Connecticut  Assembly,  in  compliance  with  the  g^*' 
King's  command,  empowered  the  council  to  send  an  agent 
to  England  to  defend  the  claim  of  that  colony  to  Narra- 
ganset,  and  designated  William  Harris  of  Pawtuxet  as  a 
suitable  person.  They  also  disavowed  the  late  Court  held 
by  Governor  Cranston  at  Westerly,  forbidding  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Stonington  in  any  way  to  recognize  the  same,  and 
protested  against  any  other  act  of  jurisdiction  heretofore, 
or  hereafter  to  be,  exercised  by  Ehode  Island  in  the  Nar- 
raganset  country.  Massachusetts  also  resented  the  griev- 
ances of  her  people,  and  upon  the  suit  of  John  Saffin  ar- 
rested Capt.  John  Albro,  an  Assistant  of  Rhode  Island, 
then  in  Boston.  .  He  was  discharged  at  once,  and  the 
slight  expense  incurred  by  this  annoyance  was  met  by  the 
Assembly.  This  body  met  at  the  usual  time  and  contin-  30. 
ued  in  session,  with  several  adjournments,  more  than  two 
months.  Their  first  action  was  ujoon  a  petition  from  the 
town  of  Westerly  that  the  western  line  of  the  colony 
should  be  run.  It  was  voted  to  do  so,  surveyors  were  ap-  ^q' 
pointed,  and  notice  was  sent  to  Connecticut  requesting  the 
concurrence  of  that  colony  in  the  survey.  This  was  a  cool 
rejoinder  to  the  recent  fulminations  from  that  quarter,  but 
was  perhaps  the  best  notice  that  could  be  taken  of  them. 

The  same  subject  was  at  this  time  occupying  the  royal 
council.     A  brief  historical  sketch  of  Narraganset,  drawn      4, 

'  This  was  at  the  May  term  of  the  Court.  Letters  from  Saffin  and  Smith, 
dated  May  2od  and  26th,  to  Sec.  Allen  of  Connecticut,  giving  an  account  of 
their  trial  are  in  MS.  records  of  Conn.,  vol.  i.  p.  250-2,  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc. 


458  HISTORY    OF    TUE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  lip  by  Holden  and  Greene,  was  read/  and  a  full  report 

_^^  was  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade  soon  after,  upon  the  gov- 

1  <i  T  9.   ernment    and    projiriety  of  Kings  Province,  reciting  the 

^^'    progress  of  the  dispute  to  this  period,  and  recommending 

that  a  commission  be  sent  out  to  examine  the  subject,  as 

it  was  too  complicated  for  the  Board  to  decide.'^ 

11.  Connecticut  replied  to  the  last  proposition  of  Rhode 
Island,  refusing  to  run  the  line,  and  giving  nptice  of  the 
appointment  of  an  agent  to  adjust  the  dispute  in  England 

'  Jan!^  that  Rhode  Island  might  also  send  one  if  she  chose."'  At 
6-  an  adjom-ned  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  a  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  King,  advising  his  Majesty  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  agent  by  Connecticut,  and  asking  that 
time  may  be  allowed  to  Rhode  Island  to  make  her  reply 
before  final  judgment  in  the  case.^ 

12.  The  grant  of  Mount  Hope  to  Plymouth  by  royal  let- 
ter 5  decided  the  petition  of  John  Crowne^  so  long  pending 

Feb.  before  the  council.  He  then  made  a  new  application,  pe- 
titioning the  King  for  the  grant  of  Boston  neck  in  Narra- 
ganset.^  This,  like  its  predecessor,  was  referred  to  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  met  the  same  fate.  The  lands  of 
Potawomet,  about  which  tliere  had  been  frequent  conten- 
J^ '  tion  between  Warwick  and  her  neighbors,  both  Indian  and 
English,  were  finally  disposed  of  in  town  meeting,  by  di- 
vision into  fifty  equal  parts  or  rights,  and  the  names  of  the 
proprietors  were  inserted  on  the  records.'' 

A   letter   containing    twenty-seven    queries   from  the 

^^-      Board  of  Trade,  relating  to  the  condition  of  Rhode  Island, 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.  vol.  iii.  p.  45. 

^  This  report  is  without  date,  in  Br.  .S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  12- 
13. 

'  Conn.  MSS.,  vol.  i.  p.  264  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc.  A  copy  of  the  Connecti- 
cut instructions  to  W.  Harris  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  107. 

*  Original  filed  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.  vol.  iii.  p.  93,  R.  I.  CoL 
Rec,  iii.  76. 

^  N.  E.,  vol.  xxsii.  p.  315,  Br.  S.  P.  O. 

"  N.  E.,  vol.  iii.  p.  55,  Br.  S.  P.  0. 

'  Warwick  records,  March  8th,  1680. 


DEATH    OF    GOVERNOR    CRANSTOX.  459 

naving  been  received,  was  probably  tbe  cause  of  a  special  chap 
meeting  of  the  Assembly.     A  committee  of  seventeen  per-  ^^^^S^ 
sons  was  appointed  to  collect  the  necessary  information  in  16  8  0 
reply.     The  severe  illness  of  the  governor  compelled  an  ad-      i  ^ 
journment.     He  expired  the  next  day,  being  the  third  gov-      12. 
ernor  who  had  died  in  office  within  two  years. 

Governor  John  Cranston  had  borne  a  distinguished 
part  in  the  history  of  the  colony,  and  filled  the  highest 
military  and  civil  positions  in  its  gift.  He  was  the  first 
who  ever  held  the  place  of  Major-general,  having  been  se- 
lected to  command  all  the  militia  of  the  colony  during 
Philip's  war,  and  he  was  the  father  of  a  future  governor 
who  became  still  more  distinguished  for  his  protracted 
public  service.  Major  Peleg  Sandford  was  elected  by  the  le. 
Assembly  to  fill  the  vacancy.  This  was  confirmed  by  the 
l^eople  at  the  general  election,  and  Walter  Clarke  was 
again  chosen  deputy  governor.  A  bell  was  now  provided  ^  _^^' 
for  calling  together  the  Assembly,  the  Courts,  and  the 
Council,  and  ordered  to  be  set  up  in  some  convenient  place. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  make  a  digest  of  the  laws 
"  that  they  may  be  putt  in  print."  '  The  prudent  limita- 
tion of  the  power  to  be  exercised  over  the  Courts,  prescribed 
by  a  previous  Assembly,'^  was  swept  away  at  this  session 
by  a  vote  "'  that  in  all  actionall  cases  brought  to  the 
Generall  Courts  of  Tryalls,  if  either  plaintiif  or  defendant 
be  aggrieved  after  judgment  entered  in  Court,  they  may 
and  have  liberty  to  make  their  appeale  to  the  next  Gen- 
erall Assembly  for  reliefe,  provided  such  appeale  be  made 
in  the  Recorder's  office  tenn  days'  time  after  judgment  en- 
tered as  aforesaid  ;  as  also  such  person  or  persons  soe  ap- 
l^ealinge,  shall  first  pay  cost  of  Court,  and  give  in  bond  as 


^  We  infer  that  they  did  not  discharge  the  whole  of  their  duties,  as  the 
earliest  printed  copy  of  the  laws  now  known  is  dated  1719,  and  repeated  at- 
tempts were  vainly  made  by  the  home  government  to  procure  from  Rhode  Isl- 
and a  copy  of  the  laws,  as  we  shall  presently  see  ;  and  this  could  not  have 
been  the  case  had  a  digest  been  provided. 

'August,  1678  - 


o. 


460  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,  in  case  of  review,  and  thereupon  execution  shall  be  stopped 
^^  till  the  determination  of  the  Assembly  be  knowne."  It 
10  8  0.  should  be  remembered  that  the  General  Court  of  Trials 
was  composed  of  the  General  Council,  being  the 'governor 
and  assistants,  or  what  afterwards  became  the  upper  house 
of  Assembly,  who,  at  this  time,  formed  a  part  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  sitting  as  one  body  ;  and  it  waS"  not  till 
nearly  seventy  years  later  that  a  reorganization  of  the 
Courts  effected  a  complete  separation  of  the  legislative 
from  the  judicial  branches  of  the  Government.  An  alter- 
ation in  the  time  of  holding  the  Courts  of  Trials  was  made, 
as  they  often  interfered  with  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly. 
They  were  hereafter  to  be  held  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  March 
and  the  first  Tuesday  in  September,  instead  of  in  May  and 
October  as  heretofore.  The  pay  of  members  of  both  bodies 
was  fixed  at  seven  shillings  a  week.  The  statistical  ac- 
count of  Rhode  Island,  in  reply  to  the  inquiries  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  having  been  completed,  it  was  sent,  with 
g.       a  letter  from  the  governor,  to  England.^ 

The  dispute  with  Connecticut  continued  with  unabated 
violence.  That  colony  attempted  to  set  up  CatojDcci,  a 
Pequot,  as  joint  Sachem  of  the  Niantics  with  Weeounk- 
hass,  daughter  of  the  deceased  Ninigret,  and  hereditary 
queen  of  the  tribe.  The  same  policy  that  had  placed  the 
usurper  Uncas  at  the  head  of  the  Mohegans,  now  sought 
to  distract  the  remnant  of  the  once  powerful  Narragansets 
who  remained  faithful  to  Rhode  Island. .  The  injured 
queen  petitioned  the  King  against  this  violation  of  her 
rights,  setting  forth  the  conduct  of  Connecticut,  and 
of  the  Atherton  purchasers,. as  alike  prejudicial  to  his 
Majesty,  to  herself,  and  to  Rhode  Island,  and  praying  that 

'  The  original  replies  and  letter  are  filed  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England, 
vol  iii.  pp.  115-121.  As  this  is  the  earliest  official  information  upon  these 
points,  and  gives  some  interesting  facts,  we  insert  the  substance  in  Appendi.K 
F.  The  queries  may  be  gathered  from  the  replies.  They  were  addressed  to 
all  the  colonies,  and  are  printed  in  Antiquities  of  Connecticut,  p.  130.  Hart- 
ford, 1836. 


ARRESTS    AND    REPRISALS.  461 

tlie  jurisdiction  of  the  country  might  be  left,  as  it  ever  had  chap. 
been,  in  the  hands  of  the  latter.*     A  constable  of  Stoning-   _^^ 
ton  was  seized  by  warrant  of  Governor  Sandford,  for  exer-   16  8  0. 
cising  authority  in  Westerly,  by  arresting  one  Wells  upon 
a  warrant  from  Connecticut,  and  carried  to  Newport.     A       g, 
sharp  letter  from   the  Connecticut   council  followed,  de- 
manding his  release,  and  for  peace'  sake  agreeing  "  not  to 
meddle  on  the  east  side  of  Pawcatuck  river  "  till  the  mat- 
ter was  decided  in  England.     The  governor  replied,  giving 
the  reason  for  the  arrest,  but  retaining  the  prisoner  for      9. 
trial.     The  council  issued  a  formal  protest  against  the 
conduct  of  Rhode  Island,  to  be  published  by  the  marshal 
of  Stonington  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  prohibiting  the 
recognition  of  any  authority  not  derived  from  them.     They 
also  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade  containing  seven 
pleas  for  their  claim  to  the  jurisdiction  and  soil  of  Narra- 
ganset.-     Further  than  this  they  proceeded  to  make  re- 
prisals.    The  marshal  and  his  posse  broke  open  the  house 
of  Joseph  Clarke  in  Westerly,  before  sunrise,  and  carried 
him  oif  as  a  prisoner.     The  governor  and  council  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Kings  Province  demanded  his  release,  in  a  let-      23. 
ter  setting  forth  their  right  of  jurisdiction,  both  by  charter 
and  commission,  over  the  invaded  district.     Clarke  was 
released  upon  recognizance  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
pounds  sterling  for  his  appearance  at  the  October  term. 
Connecticut  replied,  placing  the  seizure  of  Clarke  on  the      29 
ground  of  retaliation,  denying  the  allegations  of  the  Rhode 
Island  letter,  and  asserting  her  claims  to  Kings  Province. 
Mr.  Blathwayt,  secretary  of  the    royal  council,  wrote  to 
Randal  Holden  and  John  Greene  concerning  the  boundary 
dispute,  and  also  the  Warwick  case  with  Harris.     In  their 

'  The  originnl  petition,  translated  by  Job  Babcock,  intei7)reter,  dated  4th 
April,  1680,  and  signed  "  Weeounkhass,  the  Queen  in  the  Nihantick  Cuntrey 
in  the  Kings  Prcvince  in  New  England — with  the  consent  of  her  Counsell,"  is 
in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  77. 

^  Antiquities  of  Connecticut,  p.  128. 


462  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

reply,  a  minute  accourit  of  the  history  of  Narraganset  and 
the  grounds  of  the  Khocle  Island  claim  is  given.'  The 
secretary's  letter  shows  a  leaning  on  the  part  of  the  council 
in  favor  of  Rhode  Island.     Connecticut  continued  to  ex- 

23.  ert  authority  over  the  people  of  Westerly,  summoning 
them  to  the  Stonington  town  meeting  to  elect  deputies, 
and  to  perform  military  duty  ;  while  Rhode  Island  exer- 
cised her  rights  in  bringing  suits  for  eviction,-  in  cases  of 
•  land  title  under  grants  from  Connecticut,^  in  that  town — 
a  j)roceeding  that  brought  out  a  strong  remonstrance  from 
Hartford,^  closing  with  a  proposal  to  negotiate. 

Private  no  less  than  public  concerns,  in  the  colonies, 
were  often  the  subjects  of  petition  to  the  throne.  Thomas 
Savage,  one  of  the  eighteen  original  proprietors  of  Aqued- 

25.  neck,  who  had  returned  to  Massachusetts,  now  wrote  to 
the  Government  of  Rhode  Island,  claiming  his  right  in  the 
undivided  portions  of  the  island  to  which  he  was  entitled, 
as  well  as  to  the  eight  acre  lot  that  he  received  at  Pocas- 
set.'by  the  original  agreement  of  the  purchasers.  Copies 
of  the  necessary  papers  were  given  to  his  son,  and  also  a 
letter  to  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  to  the  same  effect,  which 
was  presented  at  town  meeting,  but  refused  record  or 
hearing  by  the  freemen.  Major  Savage  then  petitioned 
the  King,  stating  the  facts  and  asking  that  a  commission 
from  the  adjacent  colonies  be  appointed  to  try  the  case  ; 
but  no  notice  appears  to  have  been  taken  of  it.^  The 
claim  of  one-eighteenth  part  of  the  island  was  a  large  one, 
and  although  technically  well  founded,  would  have  worked 
practical  injustice  if  allowed,  since  the  settlers  who  re- 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  81.  This  account  differs  some- 
what from  the  received  opinion  of  the  settlement  of  Narraganset.  See  note 
ante  ch.  vi.  p.  195. 

^  Conn.  MSS.,  vol.  ii.  p.  8-10,  to  which  Rhode  Island  replied,  13th  Sept., 
that  she  was  ready  to  treat,  as  proposed  hy  Connecticut,  at  any  time.  Do. 
p.  11. 

'  The  original  petition  of  Mr.  Savage  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  v, 
iii.  p.  128. 


30 


THE    NAKRAGANSET    PROPRIETOES   PETITION.  463 

loaiued  had  given  up  their  equal  rights  for  the  benefit  of  chap. 
new  comers  as  fast  as  such  were  admitted  freemen  of  the  .^,.^^1^ 
colony.  16  80. 

At  the  same  time  the  proprietors  of  Narraganset  sent 
a  long  petition  to  the  King,  reciting  the  history  of  their 
country,  praying  to  be  separated  from  Rhode  Island,  and 
annexed  to  Plymouth  or  Connecticut,  or  to  be  erected  into 
a  distinct  government.  The  acts  of  the  royal  commission- 
ers are  particularly  dwelt  upon,  and  much  stress  is  laid  on 
the  dissent  of  Col.  Nicholls,  and  subsequent  revocation  of 
the  order  for  the  Atherton  company  to  quit  the  settle- 
ments. They  had  sent  by  William  Harris  all  the  papers 
relating  to  their  case,  but  these  were  carried  to  Algiers,' 
and  being  too  poor  to  send  another  agent  to  England,  they 
ask  that  John  Lewin  and  Thomas  Dean,  to  whose  care  the 
petition  is  sent,  may  be  received  as  their  attorneys  before 
the  council,  and  also  that  a  court  of  claims,  made  up  from 
the  other  colonies,  may  be  constituted  to  examine  land 
titles  and  report  to  the  King.-  The  Government  of  Ehode 
Island  sent  a  remonstrance  against  this  petition,  recapitu- 
lating the  history  of  the  colony,  the  agreement  of  Winthrop 
and  Clarke,  and  the  terms  of  the  Connecticut  charter, 
which  so  exphcitly  assigned  Narraganset  to  Rhode  Island. 
The  date  of  every  settlement  in  the  colony  is  given,  and 
the  assertion  of  Richard  Smith  that  he  was  the  pioneer  in 
Narraganset  is  directly  denied,  a  Mr.  Wilcocks  and  Roger 
Williams  having  preceded  him  by  some  years,  and  before 
the  purchase  of  Warwick.  The  violent  conduct  of  Con- 
necticut is  derscribed,  and  an  issue  of  the  differences,  by  a 
confirmation  of  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  is  earnestly  re- 

'  While  the  writer  was  examining  the  archives  in  London,  all  these  docu- 
intints,  aiid  many  more  relating  to  the  capture  of  Mr.  Harris,  were  found  i:' 
the  bundles  marked  "  Algiers,"  where  they  had  been  filed  for  one  hundred 
and  seventy  years.  They  are  now  restored  to  their  proper  place  among  the 
New  England  papers. 

-  Original  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  84.  Received  Oct. 
nth,  1680 


464  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

quested.  Papers  in  proof  of  the  averments  of  the  petition 
accompanied  it,  with  a  letter  '  of  the  same  date  from  Gov. 
Sandford.  John  Saffin  also  wrote  to  Lord  Culpeper  re- 
hearsing the  points  of  the  Narraganset  petition,  and  re- 
questing him  to  represent  their  case,  and  to  favor  their 
agent,  Harris,  and  the  attorneys.^ 

7.  The  trial  of  Clarke  took  place  -at  Hartford.-  He  was 

sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  pounds  and  .-costs.     The 

^'-  General  Assemhly  assumed  the  case  and  granted  relief, 
which  was  the  only  business  of  puhlic  interest  transacted 
at  the  session. 

A  measure  was  now  adopted  in  England  of  the  most 
vital  character  in  its  results  upon  the   colonies.     A  deter- 

j^oy     mination  to  enforce  the  famous  navigation  acts  ^  and  their 

12.      corollary,  the  acts  regulating  the  plantation  trade,  was  sig- 

'    nified  to  all  the  colonies  by  royal  edict.     Upon  the  recep- 

March   ^io^  of  this  decree,  the  governor  and  council  ordained,  in 

28.      pursuance  of  its  mandates,  that  a  naval  office,  or  custom- 

'' Original  letter  and  petition  in  New  England,  vol.  iii.  pp.  85-87,  Br.  S. 
P.O. 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  v.  iii.  p.  113. 

^  The  author  of  the  first  of  these  acts  was  George  Downing  of  Salem,  a 
nephew  of  the  famous  Hugh  Peter,  the  father  of  New  England  commerce  and 
the  founder  of  her  fisheries.  Its  object  was  to  give  to  British  shipping  the 
monopoly  of  the  home  trade.  Its  motive  was  to  weaken  the  overwhelming 
commercial  and  naval  power  of  Holland,  then  the  carrier  of  the  world  and 
mistress  of  the  seas.  It  was  introduced  into  Parliament  on  the  5th  August, 
1651,  by  Whitelock,  the  republican  leader,  and  passed  9th  October.  It  has 
been  well  styled  the  Charta  Maritima,  and  so  beneficial  was  its  effect  that 
Adam  Smith  is  compelled  to  pronounce  it  "  the  wisest  of  all  the  commercial 
regulations  of  England,"  although  it  is  diametrically  opposed  at  every  point 
to  his  favorite  theory  of  free  trade.  Immediately  after  the  restoration  it  was 
remodelled  and  passed  by  the  King's. Parliament  in  16G0,  and  its  author  re- 
ceived the  honors  of  knighthood  at  the  hands  of  Charles  II.  The  glory  of 
England  in  this  as  in  many  other  important  points,  was  the  result  of  meas- 
ures initiated  by  the  republican  Parliament.  "'  The  navigation  act,  "  says 
Upham,  "  was  not  only  the  wisest,  it  was  the  boldest,  it  might  almost  be 
said,  the  most  high-handed  legislative  proceeding  ever  passed."  It  built  up 
the  maritime  power  of  England,  but  it  was  one  of  the  earliest  sources  of  op- 
pression to  her  American  colonies,  in  connection  with  the  kindred  acts  for  the 
control  of  the  plantation  trade. 


THE    CURSE    OF   CLAWSON.  465 

house,  should  he  established  at  Newport  for  the  proper  en-  chap. 
try  of  all  vessels  arriving  in  this  jurisdiction.     The  bonds  ,3^ 
required  by  the  act  were  to  cost  six  shillings  for  every  ves-  16  81. 
sel  above  forty  tons  burden,  and  two  and  sixpence  for  those      ^  ^ 
of  less  tonnage.     The  act  was  pubhshed  by  beat  of  drum      j, 
in  the  town  of  Newport.     The  time  was  to  come  when  the 
same  drum-beat  should  call  the  people  to  resist  these  acts 
as  being  among  the  most  oppressive  impositions  of  a  des- 
potic government  ! 

No  changes  were  made  in  the  general  officers  at  the  ^^ 
next  election.  Benjamin  Hernden,  Jr.,  or  Herendeen,  of 
Providence,  having  without  provocation  fired  upon  an  In- 
dian, the  Assembly  passed  an  act  to  prevent  such  outrages 
in  future,  and  caused  it  to  be.  published,  "  with  all  expe- 
dition "  at  Providence.  This  man  was  a  desperate  char- 
acter, as  was  his  father  before  him.  A  romantic  legend 
of  the  latter  is  preserved,  which,  as  it  serves  to  illustrate 
one  phase  of  border  life,  when  this  was  a  frontier  settlement 
of  the  English,  may  be  here  related.  In  the  earliest  list 
of  "twenty-five  acre  men"  received  as  inhabitants  of 
Providence  '  are  found  the  names  of  John  ^  Clawson 
and  Benjamin  ;x)  Herendeen.  Their  famihes  were  very 
intimate,  and  it  is  probable  were  connected  by  marriage, 
Clawsjn  was  a  hired  servant  of  Koger  Williams.  One 
night  "^  he  was  attacked  from  behind  a  thicket  of  barberry 
bushes,  near  the  north  burial  ground,  by  an  Indian  named 
Waumaion,  whom  Clawson  supj)Osed  to  be  instigated 
thereto  by  Herendeen.  At  the  first  assault  Clawson's 
chin  was  split  open  by  a  blow  with  a  broad  axe,  from  the 
effects  of  which  wound  he  soon  afterwards  died,  but  not 
before  he  had  pronounced  the  strange  curse  upon  his  mur- 
derer, which  the  legend  records  as  having  been  so  singu- 
larly fulfilled,  "  that  he  and  his  posterity  might  be  marked 
with  split  chins  and  haunted  with  barberry  bushes." 
More  than  a  century  later,  testimony  was  collected  in  proof 

'  January  19th,  1645-6.  «  4th  January,  1660-1. 

VOL.  I. — 30 


466  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  of  the  fulfilment  of  tliis  dying  malediction.     By  this  it 
_^_^  appears  that  the  descendants  of  the  murderer  were  remark- 
1681.  able  for  the  excavated  or  furrowed  chin,  which  caused  the 
curse  of  Clawson  to  be  kept  in  remembrance,  and  many  a 
quarrel  was  excited  among  them  at  huskings  and  frolics 
by  mention  of  the  word  "  barberry  bushes."  ^ 
23.  At  an  adjourned  session,  the  towns  were  empowered  to 

choose  one  or  more  additional  constables  at  regular  town 
meetings,  the  same  as  on  election  day.  A  slight  difficulty 
July,  arose  between  the  Mohegan  and  Narraganset  Indians, 
owing  to  a  murder  committed  by  the  latter,  which  led  to 
a  friendly  correspondence  between  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut, by  which  trouble  was  prevented,  the  dispute  be- 
ing settled  by  arbitration.  This  was  the  only  intercourse 
of  an  official  nature  that  took  place  between  the  two  col- 
onies for  more  than  a  year. 

The  Narraganset  proprietors  sent  through  Lord  Cul- 

ggj^^     peper  another  statement  of  their  claims,  contradicting  the 

12.     positions  taken  by  Holden  and  Greene.     This  statement 

was  received  while  a  commission  for  settling  these  disimtes 

was  beino;  discussed  bv  the  council."^ 
Oct. 
26.  The  next  regular  session  of  the  Assembly  was  held  at 

Providence,  being  the  first  Assembly  ever  held  there  under 
the  new  charter,  and  only  the  second  that  had  met  at  any 
other  place  than  Newport.  This  was  perhaps  owing  to  a 
disagreement  then  existing  in  the  town  as  to  the  number 
of  which  the  town  council  should  consist  ;.  one  party  de- 
siring that  two  or  three  members  should  be  added  to  make 
the  council  equal  in  number  to  those  of  the  other  towns, 


'  The  curse  of  Clawson,  with  the  singular  and  undoubted  evidence  of  its 
fulfilment,  collected  from  the  most  respectable  sources  by  the  Hon.  Theodore 
Foster,  and  also  the  account  of  the  murder  and  trial,  with  a  copy  of  a  letter 
from  Roger  Williams  to  the  town  of  Providence  dated  May  11th,  lC6l,  con- 
cerning the  estate  of  the  murdered  man,  are  preserved  in  the  Foster  MS. 
papers. 

=  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  109.  Potter's  N.irr.  R.  I.  H.  C. 
iii.  226.     1  M.  H.  C.  v.  229. 


A   CUSTOM-HOUSE   ESTABLISHED,  467 

the  other   party   opposing   any  alteration.     Every   town  chap. 
council  consisted  of  six  persons,  including  the  resident  as-  ,^„,J^ 
sistants,  who  were  chosen  by  all  the  freemen  of  the  colony.   16  81. 
Three  of  these  being  from  Providence,  left  but  three  mem- 
bers to  be  elected  by  the  town,  the  rest  being  chosen  by 
the  colony.     This  was  a  regulation  prescribed  when  the 
charter  was  adopted,  and  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  see 
the  reason.     It  certainly  worked  injustice  to  the  townsmen 
in  this  case.     The  Assembly  authorized  the  assistants  to 
call  a  town  meeting  to  elect  a  council  of  six  persons  in  ad- 
dition to  the  assistants.     This  was  to  be  done  annually, 
and  was  carried  into   effect  at   the  next  town  meeting.      14. 
Fast  riding  within  the  compact  parts  of  Providence  was 
also  prohibited  by  the  Assembly. 

Attention  to  the  acts  of  trade  and  navigation,  the  168  2. 
stumbling-block  of  New  England,  began  now  to  be  urged 
upon  the  colonies.  The  dictatorial  bearing  of  Randolph, 
the  special  commissioner  appointed  from  England  to  en- 
force these  acts,  as  surveyor  general  of  customs,  maddened 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  almost  to  open  resistance,  but 
as  yet  no  trouble  from  this  source  was  felt  in  Rhode  Island. 
The  reciprocal  engagement  of  the  colony  to  the  governor 
was  amended  by  adding  thereto  a  pledge  to  stand  by  him  -^^y. 
in  his  performance  of  the  said  acts  as  required  by  the  oath  3. 
therein  imposed.  The  ordinance  of  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil establishing  a  custom  house,  upon  receipt  of  the  royal 
decree  the  year  before,  was  confirmed  by  the  Assembly. 
The  decree,  or  "  charter  concerning  trade  and  navigation," 
as  it  was  termed,  was  presented  to  the  Assembly  by  Fran- 
cis Brinley,  and  placed  by  them  in  custody  of  the  governor. 
Sandford  and  Clarke  were  again  chosen  to  their  respective 
offices.  The  quarrel  between  Warwick  and  Kingstown 
for  the  possession  of  Potowomet  had  proceeded  so  far  that 
the  Assembly  now  interfered,  to  preserve  peace,  and  for- 
bade any  persons  whatever  from  entering  thereupon  until 
further  orders.     They  also  warned  certain  intruders  upon 


25 


i68  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  said  lands  to  depart  forthwith,  but  permitted  the  War- 
wick proprietors  to  mow  and  improve  the  meadows  there 
16  8  2.  as  heretofore.     The  town  ofi&cers  of  Kingstown,  distracted 

'  "^'  hy  the  rival  claims  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Narraganset,  had 
avoided    taking  their  engagenaent  to  this  colony.     Two 

28.  "conservators  of  the  peace"'  were  therefore  elected  for 
that  town,  and  the  governor  was  desired  to  hold  a  Court 
there  and  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  town  to  elect  officers  ; 
or  in  case  the  town  should  refuse  so  to  do  the  Court  was 
requested  to  elect  all  of  them,  to  continue  until  further 
orders  or  till  new  ones  be  chosen. 

Oct.  The    autumn  session  was  held  at  Warwick  for  the 

second  time  in  twenty  years.  The  question  of  the  power 
of  town  councils  to  reject  persons  coming  into  any  town 
was  settled  upon  application  of  the  deputies  from  Provi- 
dence. It  was  decided  that  any  one  might  be  rejected 
who  should  fail  to  give  bonds  satisfactory  to  a  majority  of 
the  council  ;  and  if  any  one,  being  warned  by  the  council 
to  leave  the  town,  should  fail  to  do  so,  a  warrant  for  his 
removal  might  be  issued  to  the  constable,  and  in  case  of  his 
return  to  the  town  he  should  be  subject  to  fine  or  whip- 
ping.2 

The  first  company  of  cavalry  in  the  mainland  towns 
was  chartered  at  this  session,  to  consist  of  thirty-six  men 
besides  officers,  with  the  same  privileges  given  to  the  in- 
fantry, and  the  like  obligation  to  exercise  six  days  in  the 
year.  It  was  composed  of  residents  of  Providence,  War- 
wick, and  adjacent  places,  upon  whose  petition  it  was  or- 

'  John  Cole  and  C.apt.  John  FoaVies. 

'  A  curious  paper  is  preserved  among  the  Foster  MSS.,  which  shows  the 
mode  of  applying  for  permission  to  reside  in  any  town.  "  To  y"  Towne  mett 
this:  15th  of  Decern''^  1680.  My  request  to  y^  towne  is;  that  they  woold 
grant  the  liberty  to  reside  in  y«  Towne  during  the  Townes  Approbation,  be- 
having myselfe  as  a  civell  man  ought  to  doe,  Desireing  not  to  putt  y®  Towne 
to  any  charge  by  my  resideing  here  ;  and  for  what  y=  Towne  shall  see  cause 
farther  to  enquire  of  me,  I  shall  see  I  hope  to  give  them  a  tinie  and  sober 
Answer  thereunto.     Y"'  friend  and  servant  Tho.  Waters." 


HOG   ISLAND    DISPUTE.  469 

ganized.     Two  majors  were  hereafter  to  be  cliosen  annu-   chap 
ally,  one  for  the  island  and  one  for  the  mainland,  at  the   ^^ 
spring  election.     A  crew  of  privateers  had  recently  been  16  8  2. 
taRen  and  brought  into  Newport  as  prisoners,  whence  they       ^^' 
were  sent  to  Virginia  for  trial.    -  A  portion  of  them  having 
broken  jail,  laid  a  plot  to  assassinate  Governor  Sandford, 
which  was  disclosed  by  one  of  their  number,  who,  in  fear 
for  his  life,  petitioned  that  he  might  not  be  sent  away  with 
the  rest.     The  prayer  was  granted,  and  the  informer  sub-      25, 
sequently  released.     Hog  Island,  which  thirty  years  before 
had  been  a  matter  of  dispute  with  Plymouth,  was  again 
claimed  by  that  colony,  which  led  to  a  corresi^ondeuce  be- 
tween it  and  Ehode  Island,  and  to  a  very  long  letter  from 
Governor  Hinckley  of  Plymouth  to  the  secretary  of  the 
royal  council,  claiming  the  island  as  within  their  limits.    ^^^ 
Eichard  Smith,  the   original  purchaser,  had  recently  peti-      18. 
tioned  the  General  Court  of  Plymouth  to  protect  him  from 
some  Rhode  Island  intruders.     This  caused  the  appeal  to 
the  council,  which  was  accompanied  by  a  present  of  fifty 
guineas  to  the  secretary  for  past  services,  and  the  promise 
of  more  in  case  the  Hog  Island  claim  should  be  allowed. ' 

A  royal  commission  at  length  issued  to  Edward  Cran-  i68  3 
field,  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  eight  others,'^  or  to  April 
any  three  of  them,  whereof  Cranfield,  or  Eandolph,  the  de- 
tested agent  for  the  acts  of  trade  in  Massachusetts,  should 
always  be  of  the  quorum,  to  examine  and  report  upon  the 
claims  to  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  of  Kings  Province. 
Two  more  odious  names  could  not  be  found  in  New  Eng- 
land than  those  of  the  two  prominent  members  of  this 

"  Gov.  Hinckley's  MSS.  in  three  folio  vols.,  1676— 1699  in  Mass.  Hist. 
See,  vol.  i.  No.  40. 

-  Ed.  Cranfield,  V/m.  Staughton,  Joseph  Dudley,  Ed.  Randolph,  Samuel 
Shrimpton,  John  P'itz-Winthrop,  Ed.  Palmes,  Nathaniel  Salstonstall  and  John 
I'ynchon,  Jr.,  Esquires.  Antiq.  of  Conn.,  p.  153.  1  M.  H.  C,  v  232.  R. 
I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  174.  Printed  copies  of  the  commission  date  it  April  17th. 
but  the  original  report  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  382,  givei 
the  date  as  on  the  margin. 


26. 


470  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

commission.  Cranfield  had  succeeded  Mason  as  governoi 
of  New  Hampshire  '  with  the  single  purpose  of  making 
money,  and  ruled  that  ill-fated  province  with  an  arbitraiy 
power  exerted  solely  for  gain.  He  had  but  recently  ar- 
rived in  the  country,^  and  had  commenced  his  despotic 
career  with  an  act  of  tyranny  that  placed  the  province 
completely  beneath  his  feet.  Such  was  the  chai-acter  of 
the  head  of  a  commission  that  was  now  to  decide  upon 
questions  vital  to  the  interests  of  Ehode  Island.^ 
2.  At  the  general  election,  the  same  officers  were  again 

chosen,  but  Governor  Sandford  declining  to  serve,  WilHam 
Coddington,  son  of  the  late  governor  of  that  name,  was 
chosen  in  his  place,  and  besides  the  usual  engagement 
"  also  took  the  oath  for  trade  and  navigation,"  The 
power  of  the  Assembly  to  expel  its  members  was  rarely  ex- 
June  ercised,  but  at  the  adjourned  session,  a  deputy  from  War- 
wick, against  whom  complaints  were  brought  and  a  divorce 
granted  on  petition  of  his  wife  at  this  session,  was  deemed 
unfit  to  hold  his  seat,  and  was  therefore  expelledj  A 
movement  was  made  for  holding  the  October  Courts  an- 
nually at  Providence  and  Warwick,  which  towns  were  re- 
quired to  furnish  a  cage  and  stocks  preparatory  thereto. 

A  complication  of  affairs  at  home  and  abroad,  distinct 
in  their  characters,  yet  all  of  importance  to  Khode  Island, 
ensued  at  this  time.  Privateers  began  to  infest  the  seas, 
and  often  resorted  to  the  American  coast,  where  the  lax- 
ity in  regard  to  the  acts  of  trade  favored,  their  unlawful 
operations.  This,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  in  a  few 
years  degenerated  into  actual  piracy.  The  first  appear- 
ance of  these  naval  freebooters  in  this  vicinity  we  have  al- 

'  9th  May,  1682. 

""  Oct.  4th,  1682. 

^  New  Hampshii-e  was  at  this  period  a  provincial  government,  differing 
from  the  others  in  New  England,  which  were  all  charter  governments.  A 
graphic  sketch  of  the  tyranny  of  Cranfield's  administration  is  found  in  Bel- 
knap's New  Hampshire,  chap.  viii. 

*  See  Appendix  B.,  ante  chap.  viii. 


SECOND    ROYAL  <JOMMISSION.  471 

ready  noticed.     The  claim  of  the  Hamilton  family  to  the  chap, 
county  of  New  Cambridge,  which  included  all  Kings  Prov-   ^l:^ 
ince,  was   again  revived.     The  Duke  appointed  Edward   1<383 
Randolph,  one  of  the  commissioners,  as  his  attorney  to 
prosecute  the  claim.     The  arrival  of  a  privateer  ship  com-      30. 
manded  by  Capt.  Thomas  Paine,  of  whom  we  shall  have 
further  occasion  to  speak,  caused  Thatcher,  the   deputy 
collector  of  Boston,  to  make  a  journey  to  Newport  to  seize    ^-^ 
the  vessel.     Governor  Coddington  refused  to  lend  his  aid 
in  taking  the  prize.     The   ship  showed  Jamaica  papers      j[6. 
that  satisfied  the  governor,  but  were  pronounced  a  forgery 
by  the  officer,  who  a  second  time  demanded  assistance  to      ^^• 
capture  her,  and  was  refused  on  the  ground  that  her  papers 
werf^  regular,  and  that  if  the  collector' did  not  think  so,  the 
1  iw  courts  were  open  for  him  to  tiy  the  question,     Thatcher 
returned  to  Boston,  and  sent  to  Coddington  a  pass  from      19. 
the  governor  of  Jamaica  to  show  that  Paine's  clearance 
was    a   forged   document.     The    matter   rested    thus    for 
awhile,  but  subsequently  caused  much  trouble  to  Rhode 
Island.  ^ 

The  second  royal  commission  appointed  to  decide  the 
Narraganset  dispute,  now  met  upon  that  business.  The 
General  Assembly  convened  at  Warwick,  and  refused  to  20. 
publish  the  summons  '^  issued  by  Cranfield,  alleging  as  rea- 
sons for  their  conduct  that  the  summons  were  not  granted 
in  his  Majesty's  name,  that  the  commissioners  had  not 
shown  to  the  government  their  authority  to  act,  and  that 
the  King  had  not  mentioned  their  appointment  in  any  of 
his  letters.  The  j)rinted  briefs  that  the  commissioners 
required  to  be  published  were  both  dateless  and  placeless. 
Here  were  serious  informalities,  it  is  true,  but  it  might  have 
been  more  politic  to  have  waived  these  and  to  have  ac- 

'  Thatcher's   account   of  this   affair  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New   England,  iii. 

-  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  139.   Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  225,  printed 
sheet. 


22 


472  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  quiesced  in  the  desires  of  the  commissioners.  The  effect 
_^^  of  the  course  adopted  was  to  prejudice  the  parties  who 
16  83.  were  to  decide  these  vital  questions,  against  the  just 
"■  claims  of  Rhode  Island,  while  a  more  courteous  treatment, 
such  as  had  heen  shown  to  the  previous  commissioners, 
would  have  comiDromised  no  principle,  and  might  have 
21.  prevented  any  adverse  bias  in  the  court.  A  letter  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  commissioners,  calling  upon  them  to  pro- 
duce their  authority  from  the  King  before  proceeding  fur- 
ther. They  were  in  session  at  the  house  of  Richard  Smith. 
The  Assembly  adjourned  to  meet  the  next  day  at  the 
house  of  Capt.  John  Foanes,  also  in  Narraganset,  where 
the  messengers  made  return  that,  upon  delivering  the  let- 
ter. Governor  Cranfield  denied  any  knowledge  of  a  gover- 
nor in  Kings  Province.  No  answer  was  sent  to  the  letter 
nor  any  commission  shown.  The  Assembly  unanimously 
ordered  that  the  governor  and  council  should  issue  a  pro- 
hibition forbidding  the  commissioners  from  holding  a  court, 
and  requiring  them  peaceably  to  depart.  This  was  im- 
mediately done  under  the  hands  and  seals  of  the  governor 
and  council.  The  prohibition  recited  the  aforesaid  reasons 
and  order,  and  was  posted  by  the  general  sergeant  at 
23,  Smith's  house.  The  next  day  the  commissioners  notified 
the  Assembly  of  the  object  of  their  meeting,  and  that  they 
had  waited  two  days  in  vain  for  Rhode  Island  to  comply 
with  the  King's  commands,  and  should  now  adjourn  to 
Boston.  To  this  the  Assembly  replied,  defending  their 
course,  and  stating  that  they  had  been  four  days  in  session 
expecting  that  the  commissioners  would  show  their  com- 
mission. A  great  deal  of  testimony,  some  relevant,  and 
more  not  so,  was  collected  by  the  Court  from  the  various 
claimants  to  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  of  Narraganset,  which 
was  forwarded  to  England.' 

*  Some  of  this  is  in  the  archives  of  Connecticut,  and  more  in  Br.  S.  P.  0. 
New  Enjrland,  vol.  iii.  p.  330,  among  which  is  a  curious  old  map  of  Rhode 
Island,  sent  over  the  next  year,  dated  4  July,  1684. 


24 


COMPLAINTS    AGAINST    CRANFIELD.  473 

The  Assembly  then  elected  and  engaged  conservators  chap 
of  the  peace  and  other  town  officers  for  Kingstown,  and 
adjourned  for  two  weeks.  Committees  were  then  ap- 
pointed to  draft  letters  to  the  royal  council,  and  Arthur 
Fenner  and  Ex-Gov.  Sandford  where  chosen  by  ballot  as 
agents  to  proceed  to  England.  A  tax  of  four  hundred 
pounds  was  voted  for  this  purpose.  The  letter  complain- 
ed of  Cranfield  and  his  colleagues  for  not  showing  their  ^^ 
commissions,  and  explained  the  conduct  of  the  Assembly 
consequent  thereon,  contrasting  these  with  the  acts  of 
the  former  commissioners  and  the  treatment  they  had  re- 
ceived. It  requested  that  notice  should  be  given  them  in 
case  any  complaints  were  made  by  Cranfield  on  this  sub- 
ject, that  they  might  reply  thereto.  The  town  of  War- 
wick also  sent  an  address  '  to  the  King,  written  by  Eandal  17. 
Holden  and  John  Greene,  rebearsins;  the  foregoino;  facts 
and  referring  to  the  statements  they  had  given  when  in 
London.  This  paper  substantiated  the  positions  taken  in 
the  Assembly's  letter.  Ehode  Island  had  nothing  to  hope 
from  the  royal  commissioners  whose  haughty  bearing  she 
had  so  indignantly  resented.  They  were  the  avowed  ene- 
mies of  all  the  colonies,  as  their  private  letters  and  of- 
ficial papers  equally  prove.  Cranfield's  correspondence 
is  full  of  the  spite  of  personal  enmity  engendered  by 
the  treatment  that  his  insolent  and  unprincipled  con- 
duct caused  him  everywhere  to  receive,  Connecticut  ap- 
proached him  with  that  cautious  courtesy  which  his  place, 
if  not  his  character,  demanded,  and  for  which  she  received 
in  return  his  approbation  of  her  claims.  His  letter  to  the  Oct 
Board  of  Trade,  accompanying  the  Report,  abounds  in 
abuse  of  Rhode  Island,  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  separate 
the  misstatements  of  fact  from  the  expressions  of  invective. 
And  lest  he  migbt  seem,  in  usino;  language  which  had  too 
often  before  been  applied  to  Rhode  Island  by  her  sister 

'  The  originals  of  both  these  letters  are  iu  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  ilL 
pp.  230,  234.     R.I.  CoL  Rec,  iii.  135,  137. 


474  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE   OF    RHOD.     ISLAND. 

CHAP,   colonies,  to  be  tacitly  approving  their  course,  lie  charged 

^^  the  same  disloyalty  upon  them,  and  concludes  by  sayin^ 

16  8  3.  that  "  it  never  will  be  otherwise   till  their  charters  are 
Oct 
19/     broke, '  and  the  college  at  Cambridge  utterly  extirpated, 

for  from  thence  those  half-witted  Philosophers  turn  either 
Atheists  or  seditious  Preachers."  ^  On  the  same  day 
Gov.  Coddington,  by  order  of  the  General  Asseipbly,  sent 
an  address  to  the  King  to  the  same  effect  as  the  Septem- 
ber letter,  relating  to   the   conduct  of  jCranfield.^     The 

"^-  Eeport  of  the  royal  commissioners  was  a  lengthy  document 
reciting  the  parties'  claimants,  the  disrespectful  treatment 
of  the  commissioners  by  Ehode  Island,  the  points  of  dis- 
puted jurisdiction,  hanging  upon  the  interpretation  of  the 
words  "  Narraganset  river "  in  the  two  charters,  which 
was  declared  in  favor  of  Connecticut,  and  then  the  claims 
to  propriety  of  the  soil,  which  was  decided  fully  in  favor 
of  the  Atherton  company.  The  agent  of  the  Duke  of 
Hamilton  arrived  too  late  to  present  that  claim  in  season. 
It  was  therefore  referred  to  the   King,  and  the  adverse 

j^^-  parties  were  notified  thereof. ^  Connecticut  sent  her  an- 
swer to  the  claim,  alleging  seven  valid  reasons  against  it, 
to  which  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton  afterwards  replied,  re- 
butting the  positions  taken  by  Connecticut,  but  in  vain,  ^ 
and  the  Narraganset  proprietors  also  petitioned  that  the 
decision  of  the  commissioners  in  their  behalf  be  con- 
firmed.^ 

Among  the  important  events  of  this  year  there  was 
one  that  had  already  occurred,  more  memorable  than  any 

'  This  was  the  first  direct  intimation  of  the  calamity  that  was  soon  to  come 
upon  New  England. 

"  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  vol.  iii.  p.  227.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iiL  146. 

'  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  vol.  iii.  p.  232  of  New  Eng  papers.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  147. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  332-7.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  140-5. 
R.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  229-38. 

'  Both  papers  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  viii.,  and  the  former  u 
printed  in  Antiq.  of  Conn.  p.  159. 

•  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  N.  Eng.,  vol.  iii.  p.  319. 


^EATH    OF    ROGER   WILLIAMS.  475 

we  have  recorded — the  death  of  Ko^er  Williams.     More  chap. 

.  •  XT 

than  half  a  century  had  elapsed  since  this  ardent  friend  ^,^ 
of  freedom  landed  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts,  and  16  8  3. 
forty-seven  years  had  passed  away  since,  twice  exiled  for 
opinion's  sake,  he  erected  in  this  wilderness  the  altar  of 
free  worship.  He  had  seen  the  powerful  tribes,  that  first 
welcomed  their  "  white  brother  "  to  the  hospitalities  of 
the  forest,  melt  away  beneath  the  advance  of  a  civiliza- 
tion which  he  had  heralded  ;  and  he  had  lived  to  see  his 
little  band  of  six  associates  grown  into  a  prosperous  colo- 
ny amid  persecution,  pestilence,  and  war.  With  devout 
thanksgiving  he  recognized  the  Suj^reme  Power  who  had 
preserved  his  infant  colony  through  so  many  dangers,  to 
perpetuate  and  disseminate  the  eternal  principles  of  civil 
and  religious  freedom  which  he  had  sought  to  establish. 
Of  all  the  pioneers  who  settled  the  first  four  towns  he  was 
nearly  the  last  survivor  ;  but  two,  Randal  Holden  and 
John  Greene,  outlived  their  leader.  He  died  in  his 
eighty-fourth  year,  but  how  or  precisely  when  is  not  cer- 
tainly known, '  and  "  was  buried  with  all  the  solemnity  the 
colony  was  able  to  show."  - 

The  remarkable  traits  of  his  character  may  be  gather- 
ed from  what  has  heretofore  been  recorded  in  these  pages. 
His  life  has  been  written  by  able  pens,  and  well  repays 
perusal  by  those  who  would  learn  the  trials  and  appre- 
ciate the  triumphs  of  this  Christian  statesman.^  He  suf- 
fered more  than  most  men  from  the  slanders  of  those  who 
should  have  been  his  friends,  as  well  as  from  the  ojDpres- 
sion  of  his  enemies.  The  bitterness  of  theological  strife 
spared  no  weapons  which  envy  or  malice  could  supply. 
Coddington  even  accused  him  "  as  a  hireling,  who  for  the 


'  He  died  between  January  16th  and  May  10th,  1683      Knowles,  354. 

*  Cullender,  R.  I.  H.  C,  iv.  147,  note. 

^  By  Prof  J.  D.  Knowles,  Boston,  1834,  12nao.  pp.  437 ;  by  Prof.  W.  Gam- 
tnell,  in  Sparke's  Am.  Biog.  New  Series,  vol.  iv.  Boston,  1845 ;  and  by  Dr. 
Romeo  Elton,  Providence,  1853.  16mo.  pp.  173. 


476  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,  sake  of  money  went  to  England  for  the  charter  !  "  Harris, 
_^i;^  in  the  long  and  angry  controversy  between  them,  left  no 
16  8  3,  means  untried  to  undermine  his  influence  with  those  for 
whom  he  had  supplied  a  home  when  the  gates  of  Massa- 
chusetts were  closed  against  them.  Scot  earliest  dis- 
played those  feelings  of  envy,  which  successful  merit  is 
certain  to  excite  in  jealous  or  feeble  minds,  when  the 
whole  population  turned  out  to  receive  Mr.  Williams  upon 
his  return  from  England  with  the  first  charter.  "  The 
man,"  he  says,  "  being  hemmed  in,  in  the  middle  of  the 
canoes,  was  so  elevated  and  transported  .out  of  himself, 
that  I  was  condemned  in  myself,  that  amongst  the  rest,  I 
had  been  an  instrument  to  set  him  up  in  his  pride  and 
folly."  '  But  posterity  has  rendered  justice  to  his  memory, 
and  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island,  the  great  champion  of  in- 
tellectual liberty,  has  outlived  the  efforts  of  his  detractors. 
The  leading  peculiarities  of  his  mind  may  be  briefly 
sketched.  A  firmness,  amounting  in  some  cases  perhaps 
to  obstinacy,  enabled  him  to  suffer  hardships,  rarely  if 
ever  surpassed  by  those  of  any  exile  for  opinion's  sake. 
His  generosity  amounted  to  prodigality  ;  for  after  having 
purchased  of  the  Indians  all  the  lands  around  his  new 
plantations,  with  his  own  money,  he  divided  them  equally 
among  those  who  followed  him.  His  charity  was  an  ac- 
tive principle,  that  led  him  to  brave  all  peril  to  effect 
good  to  the  natives,  or  to  reconcile  feuds  among  his  fellow- 
tizens.  Of  his  forgiving  spirit  his  conduct  toward  the 
neighboring  colonies  furnishes  ample  evidence.  He  har- 
bored no  feelings  of  revenge  for  injuries  received,  but 
pitied  the  weakness,  or  lamented  the  delusion  whence 
they  arose.  His  consistency  and  love  of  truth  are  alike 
ajjparent  in  his  controversy  with  the  Quakers  at  NewjDort, 
which  has  been  so  much  misrepresented  ;  yet  he  would 

'  The  Quaker  controversy  of  1G72  was  the  fruitful  occasion  of  these  mani- 
festations of  malevolence,  all  of  which,  and  many  more,  may  be  found  in  Now 
England's  Firebrand  Quenched,  a  work  before  referred  to. 


PRIVATEERS.      CLAIMS   OF    PLYMOUTH.  477 

Lave  laid  down  his  life  rather  than  have  a  hair  of  their  chap. 
heads  injured  on  account  of  their  doctrinal  views.  His  in-  ^^' 
dustry  was  unwearied  ;  he  valued  time  and  he  well  im-  16  8  3. 
proved  it.  "  One  grain  of  its  inestimable  sand,"  said  he, 
"  is  worth  a  golden  mountain."  His  faults  were  those  of 
an  ardent  mind,  sometim.es  hastf^  ever  slow  to  yield  ;  but 
these  were  few  beside  his  exalted  virtues.  He  was  a 
varied  scholar,  a  profound  philosopher,  a  practical  Chris- 
tian, a  true  philanthropist — one  whose  deep  knowledge  of 
men,  and  whose  acute  perception  of  principles  as  displayed 
in  the  foundation  of  an  American  State,  entitle  him  to 
the  rank,  Avhich  posterity  has  bestowed,  among  the  most 
far-sighted  statesmen  of  his  age — one  who,  were  it  his 
only  praise  to  have  been  the  first  of  modern  legislators  to 
embody  the  princijjles  of  universal  toleration  in  the  con- 
stitution of  a  State,  would,  by  this  act  alone,  secure  a 
niche  in  the  temj)le  of  fame,  and  cause  his  name  to  be 
handed  down  through  all  future  time  as  the  great  Apostle 
of  Keligious  Freedom.  1683-4. 

The  appearance  of  privateers  upon  the  high  seas  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  home  government.  Jamaica  "^larch 
was  at  first  the  head-quarters  of  these  illegal  proceedings, 
and  orders  were  sent  to  that  island,  and  afterward  to  the 
New  England  colonies,  to  pass  laws  against  privateering 
and  piracy.  The  claims  of  Plymouth  to  the  soil  of  Rhode 
Island  were  now  extended  to  an  absurd  point,  including 
the  island  of  Aquedneck,  as  well  as  the  long  disputed 
islet  at  the  mouth  of  Mt.  Hope  bay,  known  as  Hog  Island. 
A  letter  from  Grov.  Hinckley  to  Secretary  Blathway t  sets  .  „ 
forth  this  new  claim,  resting  it  upon  the  western  boundary 
of  Plymouth  patent,  described  as  the  middle  of  Narragan- 
set  bay,  the  mouth  of  which  is  between  Seaconnet  and 
Point  Judith,  and  the  main  channel  westward  of  Aqued- 
ueck,  and  hence  including  that  island.'     These  two  sub- 

*  Hinckley  MSB.  vol  i.  No.  63.  Masa.  Hist.  Soc 


478  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  jects  presented  the  chief  topics  of  legislation  at  the  Gen* 

,_5^  ei'^l  Assembly. 

1684.         The  same  executive  oflScers  were  again  chosen,  and 
7^^    for  the  first  time,  two  majors,  John  Coggeshall  for  the 
island  and  John  Greene  for  the  main,  were  also  elected  by 
the  people.     The  governor  being  ill,  the  Assembly  met  at 
his  house,  where  the  oath  according  to  the  act  of  Trade 
^-      and  Navigation  was  administered  with  the  regular  en- 
gagement.   A  difference  between  the  towns  of  Portsmouth 
and  Newport,  which  had  existed  ever  since  their  separa- 
^^-      tion,  was  now  settled  by  the  Assembly,  the  line  between 
them  was  established,  and  the  tenure  of  lands  upon  the 

J  island  definitely  fixed.  The  proclamation  concerning 
24.  privateers  and  pirates  was  received  at  an  adjourned  session, 
and  published  in  Newport  by  beat  of  drum.  The  act  re- 
quired thereby  was  at  once  passed,  making  it  felony  to 
serve  under  any  foreign  Prince  against  any  power  at  peace 
with  England,  without  special  license,  and  making  all 
persons  liable  as  accessories  who  should  give  aid  or  coun- 
tenance in  any  way  to  those  who  might  be  adjudged  as 
privateers  or  pirates.  Time  was  allowed  for  those  already 
employed  under  foreign  flags  to  return  and  give  security 
to  the  governor  for  their  future  behavior.  The  act  was 
transmitted  to  England  with  letters  from  the  colony. 
Similar  acts  were  passed  by  the  other  colonies.  The  in- 
trusions of  Plymouth,  based  upon  her  recent  extravagant 
claims,  were  discussed,  and  a  letter  was  sent  to  Gov.  Hinck- 
ley, remonstrating  in  friendly  terms  against  two  acts  of 
violence  committed  at  Hog  Island  by  N.  Byfield  of  Bris- 
tol, and  others,  but  making  no  allusion  to  any  further  claim 
of  that  colony.' 

The  Jews,  who  afterwards  contributed  so  much  to  the 
commercial  prosperity  of  Newport,  appeared  for  the  first 
time,  by  petition,  at  this  Assembly,  and  received  the  as- 
surance that  they  might  expect  as  good  protection  here 

'  Hinckley  MSS.  vol.  No.  64.  Mass.  Hist  Soc. 


CHARLES   II.    AND   JAMES   II.  479 

as  any  other  resident  foreigners,  being  obedient  to  the  chap. 

YT 

laws.'     The  autumn  sessions  of  the  Assembly  were  ap-  ^^.1,,^ 
pointed  to  be  held  hereafter  alternately  at  Warwick  and  16  8  4, 
Providence,  and  accordingly  met  this  year  at  Warwick,      29. 
and  assessed  a  tax  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  no- 
tice of  which  had  been  given  at  the  spring  session. 

The  death  of  Charles  II.  and  the  proclamation  of  his  ^5ft"^' 
brother  James  II.,  occurred  soon  after  in  England.  What-  e. 
ever  may  be  said  of  the  public  and  private  character  of 
the  deceased  monarch,  Rhode  Island  is  bound  to  speak 
well  of  his  civil  administration  so  far  as  it  concerned  her- 
self, for  to  him  she  owed  the  confirmation  of  her  glorious 
privileges  in  the  second  charter,  and  was  uniformly  pro- 
tected by  him  against  the  assumptions  of  her  arrogant 
neighbors.  The  broad  principles  of  universal  toleration, 
which  a  distracted  n-ation  hailed  in  the  famous  Declara- 
tion of  Breda,  and  which  Clarke  incorporated  in  its  very 
terms  in  his  draft  of  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  were 
secured  to  her,  although  they  were  denied  to  his  other 
subjects.  The  new  king  was  soon  to  inaugurate  a  new 
policy  subversive  of  all  liberty,  and  to  prostrate  New 
England  beneath  his  feet  by  means  of  a  royal  governor. 

While  this  storm  was  gathering,  other  claimants  pre- 
sented themselves  for  the  contested  soil  of  Narraganset. 
One  sixteenth  of  all  the  lands  held  by  the  Atherton  com- 
pany had  been  bestowed   upon  Lord  Culpeper,  governor 
of  Virginia,  who  now  petitioned  the   crown,  in  behalf  of   ^  24. 
his  associates,  to  confirm  their  possession,  offering  to  pay 
an  annual  quit-rent  of  two  and  sixpence  for  every  hundred   1^8  5 
acres.     The  Earl  of  Arran,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,     .     .. 
again  urged  the  old  claim  of  his  grandfather  the  Marquis.       3. 
These  petitions  took  the  usual  course  of  reference  to  the 

^  This  is  worthy  of  note  as  evidence  that  the  famous  phrases,  "  professing 
Christianity,"  &c.,  were  not  embodied  in  the  law  of  1663,  as  the  enemies  of 
Rhode  Island  have  charged,  but  were  interpolated  at  a  later  date,  and,  as  would 
appear  by  this  act,  subsequent  certainly  to  1684. 


480.  HISTOKY   OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND, 

Board  of  Trade,  where  tliey  slumbered  for  some  years  be- 
fore any  Report  was  made  upon  them.'  The  nval  claims 
among  the  actual  settlers  in  Narraganset  was  giving  rise 
to  disturbance,  threatening  serious  results.     To  prevent 

18      this  the  governor  and  council  of  Ehode  Island  issued  an 

order  requiring  that  no  man  should  molest  any  one  in 

the  quiet  possession  of  his  lands,  until  the  King's  pleasure 

could  be  known. 

Mny  The  first  direct  step  was  now  taken  in  England  by 

^'  Edward  Randolph  against  the  liberty  of  the  colonies.  He 
complained  to  the  Board  of  Trade  of  irregularities  in  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island,  and  urged  that  writs  of  quo 
warranto  should  be  granted  against  them,  for  the  purpose 
of  revoking  their  charters.  An  order  was  at  once  issued 
for  him  to  prepare  articles  of  misdemeanor  against  these 
colonies,  that  might  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  writs,^  That 
some  intimation  of  impending  peril  had  reached  Rhode 
Island,  we  infer  from  the  proceedings  at  the  general  elec- 
tion. Gov.  Coddington  was  absent  when  the  Assembly 
met.  He  was  re-elected,  and  an  earnest,  letter  informing 
him  of  the  fact,  and  requesting  his  presence,  was  carried 

6-  to  him  by  a  committee  of  the  members.  He  appeared, 
but  declined  to  serve.  Henry  Bull,  a  man  who  afterwards 
proved  himself  to  be  as  fearless  as  he  was  honest,  was 
then  chosen  governor  ;  and  the  deputy  governor,  Walter 
Clarke,  was  re-elected.  The  attorney  general  and  several 
of  the  Assembly  also  refused  to  take  their  engagements, 
and  others  were  chosen  in  their  places.  An  address,  in 
the  usual  style,  was  prepared,  congratulating  King  James 
upon  his  accession,  and  asking  a  continuance  of  the  fav*)rs 
bestowed  by  his  predecessor.  The  proprietors  of  Narra- 
ganset sent  a  similar  address.^ 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  322  3,  326-7. 

"  See  original  letter  prefacing  the  articles.     Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England 
vol.  iv.  p.  245.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  175. 

'  Originals  of  both  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  pp.  294,  348. 


WRITS   OF   QUO  WAERANTO.  481 

A  royal  letter  announcing  an  impost  upon  sugar  and  chap. 
tobacco,  to  be  paid  by  the  retailers  and  consumers,  and     ^^' 
mentioning  also  the  defeat  of  Argyle  and  Monmouth  in   168  5. 
Scotland,  was  sent  as  the  first  greeting  from  the  new  King      26  ^ 
after  his  accession.'     The  General  Assembly  at  an  ad- 
journed session  filled  the  vacancies  in  the  list  of  Assist-      30. 
ants,  two  from  Warwick  having  declined  to  serve. 

As  soon  as  Randolph  had  prepared  the  articles  of  mis-     July 
demeanor,  according  to  the  order  of  council,  they  were      ^^' 
J) resented  with  the  request  that  writs  of  qico  warranto  be 
forthwith  issued.    The  articles  were  referred  to  the  Attor-      ^7 
ney  General,  with  an  order  to  issue   the  writs   against 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  and  advising  the  same 
process  upon  the  proprietors  of  East    and  West   Jersey 
and  Delaware.^     The  articles,  as  may  be  supposed,  were 
malicious  in  spirit  and  false  in  fact  ;  but  they  accomplish- 
ed the   purpose  of  their  artful  designer,  who  followed  up 
his  scheme  with  untiring  zeal.     The  Attorney  General 
placed  the  whole  five  writs  in  the  hands  of  Randolph,  who 
urged  the  Board  of  Trade  to  send  them  to  America  by  a      3°* 
vessel  about  to  sail.     His  anxiety  was  the  greater  on  ac- 
count of  the  failure  of  a  similar  writ  issued  nine  months 
before,  against  Massachusetts,  which  had  lapsed  owing 
to  the  length  of  the  voyage,  the  term  at  which  it  was 
made  returnable  having  passed.     He  therefore  proposed     ig, 
to  the  Board  to  take  them  himself  to  America,  and  asked 
also   for    power    to    erect    a    temporary   government    in 
Massachusetts  until  a  royal  governor  could  be  sent  out 
for  all  New   England.^     This  request  was  in  the  main     Oct. 
granted,  and  copies  of  the  quo  warranto  were  sent  out       ^• 
soon  after  from  the  sheriff's  office,  with  letters  explaining 

'  Antiq.  of  Conn.  167. 

^  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iv.  p.  247.  New  York  Docs.  vol.  iiL  p. 
362.     E.  I.  Col.  Rec.  iii.  175-7. 

^  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  pp.  3-19-366.  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  iii. 
177-8. 

VOL.  I 31 


28 


482  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

the  contents.'  Two  days  later  a  President  and  Council 
were  appointed  to  govern  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire, 
Maine  and  Kings  Province.  This  commission  consisted 
of  seventeen  persons,  residents  of  New  England,  and 
many  of  them  proprietors  in  Narraganset.  Joseph  Dud- 
20-  ley  was  named  as  President,  and  Edward  Randolph  was 
made  Secretary.^  Judgment  against  Massachusetts  was 
entered  up  a  few  days  after. 

The  General  Assemhly  met  at  Providence.  A  peti- 
tion from  certain  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island  was  pre- 
sented, asking  for  a  grant  of  vacant  lands  in  Kings  Prov- 
inc3,  sufficient  to  support  a  hundred  and  fifty  families, 
that  they  might  commence  a  new  plantation.  The  As- 
sembly authorized  the  governor  and  council  of  Rhode 
Island  to  locate  this  new  settlement  in  the  Narraganset 
and  Niantic  countries,  and  to  divide  Kingstown  into  more 
than  one  town,  or  adopt  any  other  course  in  regard  to  the 
difficulties  there  that  they  might  deem  best.     A  copy  of 

'  The  quo  warranto  cannot  be  found,  but  the  original  letter  inwhicli  it  was 
enclosed  is  preser^-ed  among  the  Foster  MSS.  vol.  iv.  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc,  and 
is  as  follows:  "London,  October  6,  1685.  Gentlemen.  This  day  was  delivered 
to  my  hand  (as  I  am  secondary  to  the  sheriff  of  London),  a  writt  of  Cowarranto 
ishewin"  out  of  the  Crowne  ofice  of  the  Court  of  King's  bench  at  Westminster, 
afainstyou  the  Gov'"'  and  Company  of  the  English  colony  of  the  Rhoade  Island 
and  the  providence  plantations  in  New  Ingland  in  America,  Requiring  your 
appearance  before  his  Magesty  wheresoever  he  shall  then  be  in  Ingland,  Irom 
the  daye  of  Easter  in  fifteen  days  to  answer  unto  our  Lord"  the  King  by  what 
warrant  you  claim  to  have  and  youse  divers  libertyesand  franchieses  w'i'in  the 
si  Colony — vizt.,  in  the  parish  of  Saint  Michsell  Bassieshaw,  London,  of  which 
you  are  impeached,  and  that  you  may  not  be  Ignorant  of  any  part  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  s'  writt,  I  have  in  Closed  unto  you  a  true  Coppia  of  the  si  writt 
(in  his  Magestj^'s  name  requiring  j-our  appearance  to  it),  and  aquainting  you 
that  in  defalte  thereof  you  will  be  proceeded  against  to  the  outlawry,  whereby 
the  libertys  and  franchises  you  claime  and  now  Injoye  wUl  be  forfited  to  the 
King,  and  your  Charter  annulled.  Of  this  Gents  plese  to  take  notiss,  from 
your  humble  ser\'ant  (unknown)  Ri.  Normansell."  A  similar  letter  to  Con- 
necticut, dated  a  year  later,  in  the  print,  and  varying  somewhat  in  terms,  is 
found  in  Antiq.  of  Conn.  p.  171. 

■'  1  M.  H.  C,  vol.  V.  244.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  iii.  197,  200.     Randolph's  com- 
mission as  secretary  of  the  council  is  dated  21  Sept.  1685. 


1  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,   vol.  iii.  pp.  355   and  379.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec, 
iii.  183. 

»  A  broadside  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  381. 

"  M.  C.  R.,  vol.  v.p.  516.     2  M.  H.  C,  viu.  179.     R.  I.  C.  R.,  iii.  203. 


RANDOLPH    ARRIYES    AT    BOSTON.  48S 

this  act,  and  also  of  the  petition,  was  sent  to  England.'   chap. 

A  divorce  law,  making  five  years'  neglect  or  absence  of    ,__,_;_ 

either  party  a  ground  of  separation,  was  passed  at  this  time.   1685-6. 

The  Narraganset  proprietors  published  a  protest  against 

this  settlement  act  of  the  Ehode  Island  Assembly,  signed 

bv  the  three  agents  of  the  company,  the  authors  of  the  fa- 

mous  handbill,  of  eight  years  before,  prohibiting  any  persons      22. 

from  entering  upon  the  land  without  their  consent,  or  that 

of  Kichard   Smith  and  Francis  Brinley,  who  resided  on  16  8  6. 
1  A  •      1     (^     1  •  1  April 

the   spot.^     A  revival  01  the  prosecutions  upon  the  seve-      2I. 

ral  writs  of  quo  ivarranto  was  moved  in  the  royal  council. 

At    the    general   election   the  late   deputy  governor,     H^^ 
Walter   Clarke,  was   chosen  governor,  and   Major  John 
Coggeshall,  deputy  governor.     The  laws  relating  to  excise 
on  liquors,  keeping  taverns,  and  selling  arms  to  the  In- 
dians, were  repealed,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  co- 
dify the  laws,  the  former  committee  for  that  purpose  never 
having  reported.     The   speedy  suspension  of  the  charter 
rendered  this   committee  equally  inefficient.     As  soon  as      13. 
news  of  the  arrival  of  Randolph,  at  Boston,  reached  Ehode 
Island,   Grov.  Clarke  wrote  him  a  friendly  letter,  offering      15. 
his  ser\'ices  in  behalf  of  the  King.     Dudley,  the  new  gov- 
ernor, or  President  of  the  Council,  showed  a  copy  of  the      17. 
royal  commission  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
who  took   exception  to    its    contents,   and  unanimously 
adopted  a  letter  to  him,  stating  their  objections,  which 
were  as  valid  as  they  were  impolitic.     The  Court  also  re-      20. 
moved  all  papers,  relating  to  their  charter,  from  the  cus- 
tody of  their  secretary,  and  deposited  them  with  a  special 
committee  for  safe  keeping.^     The  first  proclamation  of 
the  new  government  confirmed  all  the  existing  officers  of 
justice  in  the  several  provinces.     A  second  proclamation 


2") 
28 


17. 


484  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  followed,  establishing  the  royal  government  in  Narragan- 
,j!^^  set,  erecting  a  Court  of  Record  there,  appointing  civil 
16  86.  and  military  officers  for  the  time  being,  and  prohibiting 
Connecticut  or  Rhode  Island  from  further  exercise  of 
jurisdiction  in  that  country.'  But  this  government  was 
simply  provisional,  to  continue  only  till  the  plan  of  con- 
solidating all  New  England  under  one  royal  governor 
3.  could  be  perfected.  This  was  done  by  the  appointment 
of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  formerly  governor  of  New  York, 
to  the  supreme  autliority,  by  royal  commission.^  Until 
his  arrival  Dudley  and  his  council  had  full  sway  within 
the  limits  of  their  government.  They  examined  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Cranfield  commission  in  regard  to  Narra- 
ganset,  confirmed  the  records,  and  adopted  the  same  book 
for  all  subsequent  entries  of  the  acts  of  the  proprietors. 
They  also  rebuked  the  other  authorities  for  the  injustice 
that  had  so  long  been  practised  against  all  dissenters  from 
the  Puritan  Church,  The  best  act  of  the  Dudley  ad- 
ministration, and  the  only  one  for  which  the  secretary, 
Randolph,  deserves  commendation  from  Rhode  Island, 
was  a  letter  that  he  wrote  to  Gov.  Hinckley  on  account 
of  a  tax  laid  at  Scituate,  upon  a  Quaker,  for  the  support 
of  the  ministry.  Randolph  arrived  in  Rhode  Island,  with 
the  fatal  order  of  council  upon  the  quo  warranto,  and 
there  heard  the  complaint  of  this  act  of  injustice  com- 
mitted about  three  weeks  before  in  Plymouth.  The 
liberality  of  the  Pilgrim  colony  had  long  since  yielded  to 
the  overwhelming  influence  of  Massachusetts,  and  there 
was  now  but  little  difference  between  them,  either  on  points 
of  doctrine  or  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  Although  Plymouth 
was  not  included  in  Dudley's  government,  the  secretary 

'  R.  I.  C.  R.,  iii.  197.  Richard  Smith,  James  Pendleton,  and  John  Foanes, 
were  named  aa  Justices,  Riqhard  Smith  as  Sergeant  Major  of  militia,  and  four 
constables  were  also  designated.  Both  proclamations  are  on  printed  broad- 
aides  in  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  England,  vol.  iii,  pp,  375,  377. 

'  His  commission  is  printed  in  full  in  R.  I.  (1  R.,  iii.  212-18. 


22. 


NAMES    OF    TOWNS    CHANGED.  485 

at  once  wrote  to  the  governor,  expressing  regret  that,  while   chap. 
liberty  of  conscience  had  been  granted  in  the  royal  com-  ^^l^J^ 
mission  to  the  colonies  therein  included,  it  should  be  re-  16  8  6. 
strained  in  that  colony  without  special  license  from  the      22. 
King.     The  letter  further   stated  that  it  would  be   as 
reasonable  to  levy  a  tax  on  Plymouth  for  the  support  of 
the  Church  of  England  minister,  now  preaching  at  Bos- 
ton, as  to  make  the  Quakers  pay  to  maintain  the  Puritan 
clergy.     This  was  a  home  thrust  that  admitted  of  no  parry 
except  by  adopting  the  principles  of  Khode  Island  ;  and 
not  a  little  of  the  im-potent  rage  displayed  against  Dud- 
ley and  his  successor,  may  be  fairly  ascribed  to  the  spirit 
of  religious  intolerance. 

Randolph  having  delivered  the  order  of  council  upon 
the  writ,  and  at  the  same  time  soothed,  in  a  measure, 
the  irritated  feelings  of  the  people  by  his  unexpected  de- 
fence of  their  favorite  principle,  the  next  day  passed  over 
to  Narraganset,  where  Dudley  and  his  council  held  a  23. 
court.  The  commission  was  read,  the  oaths  of  office  and 
of  allegiance  therein  prescribed  were  administered  to  the 
justices  and  people,  and  John  Foanes  was  made  perma- 
nent clerk  of  the  Court  of  Records.  The  militia  were 
duly  commissioned,  and  the  names  of  the  three  towns  in 
the  Province  were  changed.  Kingston,  the  chief  town, 
was  called  Rochester,  Westerly,  the  second  in  size,  was 
named  Haversham,  and  Greenwich,  the  smallest,  Dedford. 
Their  boundaries  were  established,  the  western  limits  of 
Haversham  to  be  the  Pawcatuck  river,  and  the  northern 
bound  of  Dedford  to  be  the  town  of  Warwick,  and  to  in- 
clude within  it  the  disputed  neck  of  Potow^omet,  long 
claimed  by  the  latter.'     Preemption  rights  were  allowed 

'  This  pave  ris?  to  a  dispute.  In  order  to  an  amicable  settlement,  the  town 
of  Warwick  on  9  July,  1686,  appointed  three  men  to  meet  a  deputation,  pro- 
bably the  ihree  agents  of  the  Atherton  company,  at  a  place  halfway  between 
Warwick  and  Boston,  to  discuss  the  matter,  but  instructed  them  to  yield  noth- 
ing over  which  they  had  a  just  claim  by  purchase  from  the  Indians.     The  re- 


486  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  to  those  who,  without  leave  of  the  proprietors,  had  settled 
^^.^^  upon  the  old  ^'  mortgaged  lands,"  and  time  was  given  for 
16  8  6.  them  to  arrange  with  the  owners,  by  rent  or  purchase, 
"°^    with  right  of  appeal  to  the  government  at  Boston  in  the 
case  of  dissatisfaction.     Two  annual  courts  of  Pleas  were 
established,  to  be  held  at  Rochester  in  May  and  October. 
Thirty  wild,  or  unmarked  horses  were  ordered  to  be  caught 
24.     and  sold,  the  proceeds   to   be  employed    in   building   a 
prison  and  erecting  stocks,  and   Daniel  Vernon  was  ap- 
pointed marshal  of  the  Province  and  keeper  of  the  prison.' 
The  government  of  Kings  Province  was  thus  organized  on 
what  was  believed  to  be  a  permanent  basis.    The  western 
boundary  was  established  in  accordance  with  the  early  claim 
of  Rhode  Island,  with  which  the  Province  was  soon  again 
to  be  incorporated  never  more  to  be  divided. 

The  usual  June  adjournment  of  the  May  session  hap- 
pened to  fall  at  the  precise  time  when  the  summons  of 
Randolph  to  assemble  the  freemen  would  have  required  it 
29.  to  meet.  It  was  the  last  General  Assembly  that  for 
nearly  four  years  was  to  convene  upon  the  free  soil  of  Rhode 
Island.  Notice  had  been  given  by  Gov,  Clarke  for  the 
freemen  generally  to  attend  and  give  their  opinion  upon 
the  course  to  be  pursued.  A  large  number  were  present, 
and,  after  consultation,  left  the  matter  to  the  judgment 
of  the  Assembly,  who  wisely  determined  not  to  stand  suit 
with  the  King,  but  to  proceed  by  humble  address  to  his 
Majesty,  asking  a  continuance  of  their  charter  privileges. 
A  committee  was  appointed  for  this  purpose,  and  to  pro- 
cure a  messenger  to  go  to  England. 

But,  although  the  freemen  in  General  Assembly  thus 
quietly  and  prudently  surrendered  their  common  charter 
at  the  dictation  of  a  despot  whose  will  was  law,  they  had 
no  idea  of  parting  with  their  ancient  liberties  beyond  a 

suit  of  this  conference,  which  was  to  be  held  on  the  13th  July,  cannot  be  as- 
certained.    The  Warwick  records  of  this  period  are  lost. 

-  Potter's  Narraganset.      R.  I.  H,  C,  iii.  239.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  200-3. 


SUSPENSION   OF    THE   CHARTER.  487 

certain  and  inevitable  point.  Their  distinct  existence  as  a  chap. 
colony  was  soon  to  be  merged  in  a  great  central  government.  ^^^^ 
The  purpose  for  which  they  had  first  sought  a  patent,  to  1  'J  S  6. 
consolidate  the  towns  so  as  to  compel  the  neighboring  colo-  29. 
nies  to  respect  their  rights,  was  no  longer  essential  under 
an  administration  that  was  to  reduce  the  whole  of  New 
England  to  the  same  level  in  point  of  power.  The  new 
government  would  not  tolerate  such  acts  on  the  part  of 
her  neighbors  as  had  led  the  four  original  towns  of  Rhode 
Island  to  combine  under  the  first  charter.  Before  that 
period  each  town  was  in  itself  sovereign,  and  enjoyed  a 
full  measure  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  They  had 
now  only  to  fall  back  upon  their  primitive  system  of 
town  governments  to  be  as  free  under  the  new  regime  as 
they  had  been  prior  to  the  union  of  1647  ;  while  a  royal 
government  would  secure  to  them  the  same  protection 
from  their  neighbors  that  the  charters  had  done.  For 
these  reasons  the  policy  of  James  II.  was  less  disastrous 
to  Rhode  Island  than  to  any  other  of  its  victims.  It 
caused  her  to  fall  back  upon  a  system  in  which  she  had 
already  had  experience,  and  which  had  proved  chitfly  de- 
fective in  the  single  point  that  the  new  policy  would  ob- 
viate. The  American  system  of  town  governments, 
which  necessity  had  compelled  Rhode  Island  to  initiate, 
fifty  years  before,  now  became  the  means  of  preserving 
the  liberty  of  the  individual  citizen  when  that  of  the 
State,  or  colony,  was  crashed.  To  provide  for  this  was 
the  last  act  of  the  expiring  legislature.  For  this  purpose 
it  was  declared  "  lawful,  for  the  freemen  of  each  town  in 
this  colony  to  meet  together  and  appoint  five,  or  more  or 
fewer,  days  in  the  year  for  their  assembling  together,  as 
the  freemen  of  each  town  shall  conclude  to  be  convenient, 
for  the  managing  the  affairs  of  their  respective  towns  ; " 
and  that  yearly,  upon  one  of  those  days,  town  officers  should 
be  chosen  as  heretofore,  taxes  levied,  and  other  business 
transacted  at   such  meetings,  as  the  majority  should  de- 


488  HISTORY    OF     THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

termine  ;  and  that  to  prevent  question  of  the  legality  of 
the  meetings  the  townsmen  should  order  their  clerk,  or 
16  8  6.  other  officer,  to  warn  the  freemen  to  attend  at  a  certain 
•^."g®  day  and  hour.  The  Assembly  then  dissolved.  The  clos- 
ing scene  in  the  first  period  of.  Ehode  Island  history,  under 
the  Royal  charter,  was  at  hand.  Although  the  arrival  of 
Andros  did  not  occur  for  some  months,  his  commission  had 
already  issued,  and  as  there  was  no  change  in  his  policy, 
so  far  as  regards  Rhode  Island  and  Kings  Province,  from 
that  which  was  adopted  by  Dudley  in  respect  to  Narra- 
ganset,  his  administration  virtually  commenced  in  Rhode 
Island  with  the  suspension  of  the  charter. 


APPENDIX    F. 

ANSWER  OF  RHODE  ISLAND  TO  THE  INQUIRIES  OF  THE  BOARD 
OF  TRADE. 

FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  IN  THE  BRITISH    STATE    PAPER  OFFICE,  NEW  ENGLAND 
PAPERS.       B.  T.  VOL.  III.  P.  121. 

Whereas  wee  the  Governor  and  Councill  of  his  Majesties  Colloney 
of  Rhoade  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  receaved  from  your 
Lordships  the  Right  Honorable,  the  Lords  of  his  Majesties  most  Hon- 
orable Privy  Councill,  appointed  a  committee  for  Trade  and  Forreign 
Plantations  certain  heads  of  inquiery,  subscribed  by  the  honorable 
secretary  William  Blathwayt,  in  obedience  to  your  Lordships  com- 
mands requiring  an  answer  thereunto  ;  wee  the  Governor  and  Councill 
afoiesaid  accordinge  to  the  best  of  our  understandinge  make  answer  as 
foUoweth,  viz'. 

To  the  first  wee  humbly  answer  that  the  Councelis  and  Assemblies 
are  stated  accordinge  to  his  Majesties  appointment  in  his  gratious  let- 
ters Pattents,  and  our  Courts  of  judicature  are  two  in  the  yeare  certain 
appointed  accordinge  to  Charter,  and  are  carried  on  by  Judges  and 
Jurors,  accordinge  to  Law  and  Charter. 

To  the  second,  concerniiige  the  court  of  Admiralty  wee  answer  that 
wee  have  made  provision  to  act  accordinge  to  the  Lawes  of  England 


ANSWERS  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  TRADE.  48S 

as  neare  as  the  constitution  of  our  place  will  bearc  havinge  but  little    chap. 
occasion  thereofe.  "  _;^ 

To  the  third  wee  answer  that  accordinge  to  our  Charter  the  Legis-    "^pp. 
lative  power  is  seated  in  our  Generall  Assemblies,  and  the  executive        F. 
power  of  the  government  is  in  our  Courts  of  Trialls  settled  accordinge 
to  Charter.  ' 

To  the  fourth  wee  answer  that  our  Lawes  are  made  accordinge  to 
the  Charter  not  repugnant  but  agreable  to  the  Lawes  of  England. 

To  the  fifth  we  answer,  that  as  for  Horse  wee  have  but  few,  but  the 
chief  of  our  Militia  consists  of  ten  companys  of  foote,  being  Trayned 
Bands  under  one  Generall  Commander,  and  their  arras  are  firelockcs. 

To  the  sixth,  wee  answer  that  in  the  late  Indian  warres  wee  forti- 
fied ourselves  against  the  Indians  as  necessity  required,  but  as  for 
fortification  against  a  Forreign  enemie,  as  yet  wee  have  had  no  occasion 
but  have  made  as  good  provision  as  at  present  wee  are  capacitated  to 

doe. 

To  the  seventh  wee  answer,  that  our  coast  is  little  frequented  and 
not  at  all  at  this  time  with  privateer's  or  pirates. 

To  the  eighth  wee  answer,  as  with  respect  to  other  Nations,  that 
the  French  being  seated  at  Canada  and  up  the  Bay  of  Funde  are  a 
very  considerable  number,  as  wee  judge  about  two  thousand,  but  as 
for  the  Indians,  they  are  generally  cut  off  by  the  late  warr,  that  were 
inhabitinge  our  Colloney.' 

To  the  9th  wee  answer,  that  as  for  Forreighners  and  Indians,  we 
have  no  commerce  with,  but  as  for  our  neighbouringe  English,  wee 
have  and  shall  endeavour  to  keepe  a  good  correspondency  with  them. 

To  the  10th  wee  answer  as  to  the  Boundaryes  of  our  Land  within 
our  Patent  that  our  Charter  doth  declare  the  same  viz— (extracts  th^ 
hounds  from  the  charter,  and  adds,  "  the  greatest  part  of  it  unculti- 
vated, and  is  about  a  degree  as  we  conceave.") 

To  the  11th  wee  answer  that  the  principal  town  for  trade  in  our 
Colloney  is  the  Towne  of  Newport,  that  the  generality  of  our  buildinge 
is  of  timber  and  generally  small. 

To  the  12th,  That  wee  have  nine  towns  or  divisions  within  our 

CoUone}'. 

To  the  13th,  That  wee  have  several  good  Harbors  in  the  Colloney 
of  very  good  depth  and  soundinge,  navigable  for  any  shippinge. 

To  the  14th,  That  the  principall  matters  that  are  exported  amongst 
us,  is  Horses  and  provisions,  and  the  goods  chiefly  imported  is  a  small 
quantity  of  Barbadoes  goods  for  supply  of  our  familyes. 

To  the  15th,  That  as  for  Salt  Peter  we  know  of  none  in  this  Col- 
loney. 

To  the  16th,  Wee  an.swer  that  wee  have  severall  men  that  deale  m 
bu^iuge  and  selliuge  although  they  cannot  properly  be  called  Merchants, 


490  HISTORY    OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

and  for  Planters  wee  conceave  there  are  about  five  hundred  and  abou 
five  hundred  men  besides. 

To  the  17th,  that  we  have  had  few  or  none  either  of  English,  Scots, 
Irish  or  Forreighnors,  onely  a  few  blakes  imported. 

To  the  18th,  That  there  may  be  of  Whites  and  Blakes  about  two 
hundred boiiie  in  a  yeare. 

To  the  19th,  That  for  marriages  we  have  about  fifty  in  a  yeare. 

To  the  20th,  That  for  burrials  this  seaven  yeares  last  past  accord- 
inge  to  computation  amounts  to  foure  hundred  fifty  and  five."' 

To  the  21st,  That  as  for  Merchants  wee  have  none,  but  the  most  of 
our  Collonej'  live  comfortably  by  improvinge  the  wildernesse. 

To  the  22d,  That  wee  have  no  shippinge  belonginge  to  our  Colloney 
but  only  a  few  sloopes. 

To  the  23d,  that  the  great  obstruction  concerninge  trade  is  the 
want  of  Merchants  and  Men  of  considerable  Estates  amongst  us. 

To  the  24th,  wee  answer  that  a  flshinge  trade  might  prove  very 
benefidall  piovided  accord inge  to  the  former  artickle  there  were  men 
of  considerable  Estates  amongst  us  and  willing  to  propagate  it. 

To  the  25th,  That  as  for  goodes  exported  and  imported,  which  is 
very  little,  there  is  no  Custome  imposed. 

To  the  26th.  wee  answer  that  those  people  that  goe  under  the  de- 
nomination of  Baptists  and  Quakers  are  the  most  that  publiquelv  con- 
gregate together,  but  there  are  others  of  divers  persuasions  and  prin- 
ciples all  which  together  with  them  injoy  their  liberties  accordinge  to 
his  Majesties  gratious  Charter  to  them  granted,  wherein  all  people  in 
our  Colloney  are  to  enjoj'  their  liberty  o(  conscience  provided  their 
liberty  extend  not  to  licentiousnesse,  but  as  for  Papists,  wee  know  of 
none  amongst  us. 

To  the  27th,  That  we  leave  every  Man  to  walke  as  God  shall  per- 
suade their  hartes,  and  doe  activel}'  and  passively  yield  obedience  to 
the  Civill  Magistrate  and  doe  not  actively  disturb  the  Civill  peace  and 
live  peaceably  in  the  Corporation  as  our  Charter  requires,  and  have 
liberty  to  frequent  any  meetings  of  Avorship  for  their  better  Instruc- 
tion and  information,  but  as  for  beggars  and  vagabonds  wee  have  none 
amongst  us  ;  and  as  for  lame  and  impotent  persons  there  is  a  due 
course  taken.  This  may  further  humbly  informe  your  Lordships  that 
our  predecessors  about  forty  years  since  left  their  native  countrey  and 
comfortable  settlements  there  because  they  could  not  in  their  private 
opinions  conform  to  the  Lithurge,  formes  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  transported  themselves  and  familyes  over  the  Ocean 
seas  to  dwell  in  this  remote  wildernesse,  that  the}'  might  injoy  their 
liberty  in  their  opinions,  which  upon  application  to  his  gratious  Majesty 
after  his  happy  restouration  did  of  his  bountifull  goodnesse  graunt  us  a 
Charter  full  of  liberty  of  conscience,  provided  that  the  pretence  of 


ANSWERS  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  TRADE.  491 

liberty  extend  not  to  licentiousnesse,  in  which  said  Charter  there  is    qhap. 
liberty  for  any  persons  that  will  at  their  charges  build  Churches  and       XI. 
maintaine  such  as  are  called  Ministers  without  the  least  molestation     ^pp 
as  well  as  others.  F. 

In  the  behalf  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Councill,  signed 

Peleg  Sandford,  GoTemor. 
Dated  Newport  on  Road  Island 
the  eighth  of  May  1680. 


492  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    LSLAND. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

1686—1700. 


FROM  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  ANDKOS  GOVERNMENT  TO 
THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

CHAP.  The  address  of  Rhode  Island  to  the  Kinor  acknowledg- 

xn.  .  ^  ^ 

- — . — '  ed  the  receipt  of  the  quo  warrcintos  at  the  hand  of  Ran- 

f^f'  dolph,  and  declared  that  although  the  period  had  already 
3.  passed  at  which  the  writ  was  returnable,  they  would  not 
stand  suit  with  his  Majesty.  The  policy  of  this  course 
was  obvious.  Resistance  could  only  have  incensed  the 
monarch,  and  prove  futile  in  the  end.  The  Bermudas 
Islands  and  the  city  of  London  had  both  stood  a  trial  and 
lost  their  charters.  A  large  number  of  corporations  in 
England  had  shared  the  same  fate.  The  infamous  Jef- 
feries  was  then  Lord  Chancellor,  to  whom  the  will  of  the 
King  was  the  only  law.  New  England  was  doomed,  and 
every  consideration  of  principle  or  of  policy  that  could  ac- 
tuate Rhode  Island  moved  her  to  this  course  ;  the  more 
so  as  James  II.  had  proclaimed  her  favorite  idea  of  free- 
dom of  conscience.  The  address  asked  for  a  continuance 
of  her  privileges  in  this  respect,  and  that  no  persons 
should  be  placed  over  her  "  that  suit  not  the  nature  and 
constitution  of  your  Majesty's  subjects  here,"  and  further, 


28. 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   RANDOLPH.  493 

that  Newport  might  be  made  a  free  port.'  Another  ad- 
dress from  certain  freemen  of  Ehode  Island  was  sent,  to  the 
same  effect,  but  injudiciously  taking  exception  to  the  act  of  ^  ^^  ^ 
the  Assembly,  and  praying  that  they,  the  signers,  may  be  ig. 
exempt  from  the  tax  for  an  agent  to  be  sent  to  England. 
This  attempt  at  action  independent  from  that  of  the  As- 
sembly in  the  premises,  was,  to  say  the  least,  in  bad  taste, 
and  its  motive  is  sufficiently  apparent  at  the  close.  It 
indicatec  the  preversity  of  party  spirit  at  a  time  when  all 
parties  should  have  united  in  view  of  a  common  danger. 
It  ii9  signed  by  fourteen  persons,  representing  various  in- 
terests, several  of  whom  were  among  the  Atherton  pur- 
chasers.^ The  two  writs  against  Connecticut  were  not 
served  by  Randolph  till  a  month  later  than  those  against 
Rhode  Island.  A  special  Assembly  was  thereupon  con-  ^^• 
vened  at  Hartford,  who  appointed  an  agent  to  carry 
a  petition  to  the  King.  A  third  writ  was  afterward 
brought  against  them,  and  it  was  not  till  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  had  arrived  and  personally  appeared  with  an 
armed  force  before  the  Connecticut  assembly,  that  the 
colony  finally  submitted  ;  but  they  concealed  their  char- 
ter in  a  hollow  of  the  famous  tree  since  known  as  the 
"  Charter  Oak." ' 

Randolph  sent  an  account  to  the  Board  of  Trade  of 
his  proceedings,  and  of  the  state  of  government  in  the 
colonies,  urging  that  a  general  governor  should  be  sent 
without  delay. ^  Major  John  Greene  of  Warwick  was  Aug 
commissioned  by  the  governor  to  carry  the  letters  and  ad- 
dress to  England  and  to  act  as  agent  for  the  Colony.^ 
His  former  colleague  in  the  agency,  Randal  Holden,  also 
sent  an  address  concerning  Kings  Province,  rehearsing  its      21. 

»  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Xew  Eng.,  v.  3.  p.  396.     K.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  193. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  412.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec ,  iii,  194. 
3  Oct.  31,  1687.  Trumbull  B.  1.  oh.  xv.  p.  368-72,  edit.  1818. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  315.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  208. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  435. 


494  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  history  since  the  submission  of  the  Sachems,  down  to  the 
j^^'  government  of  Dudley,  and  advising  that  persons  not  in- 
16  8  6.  terested  in  the  lands  should  have  the  disposal  of  them,  as 
01^'  his  Majesty's  interests  were  disregarded  by  the  present 
rulers.'  The  justices  of  Narraganset,  who  were  among 
its  proprietors,  sent  an  address  assailing  the  character  of 
Greene,  the  Rhode  Island  agent,  as  the  author  of  their 
troubles,  in  order  to  counteract  his  influence  at  the 
Court,'  and  asking  that  their  affairs  might  be  referred 
to  Dudley  and  his  council.  A  similar  petition  against 
Greene  was  sent  by  the  Pawtuxet  proprietors,  asking  for 
a  like  reference  of  their  dispute  with  Warwick  on  the  fa- 
mous second  verdict,  obtained  by  Harris  in  their  behalf 
nine  years  before.^  In  a  long  communication  from  Presi- 
dent Dudley,  sent  at  this  time  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  he 
dwells  upon  the  violations  of  the  acts  of  trade  all  along 
the  coast  from  Nova  Scotia  to  New  York,  and  mentions 
the  aggressions  of  the  French  upon  the  fishing  vessels 
of  New  England.  He  states  that,  to  prevent  illegal 
commerce,  the  number  of  free  ports  had  been  much  re- 
duced, and  gives  also  a  full  account  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  council  in  organizing  Kings  Province.*  The  secretary, 
Randolph,  in  a  letter  denouncing  the  conduct  of  Massa- 
chusetts for  resisting  an  impost  of  duties,  which  he  es- 
timates would  yield  a  revenue  of  four  thousand  pounds 
sterling  a  year,  when  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were 
added  to  the  New  England  government,  also  mentions 
the  appearance  of  piratical  vessels  upon  the  coast,  to  the 
great  hinderance  of  trade.'  In  a  private  letter  of  the 
same  date  to  the  Lord  Treasurer,  Randolph  complains 
bitterly  of  his  colleagues  in  the  government,  especially  of 
President  Dudley,  who  he  says  refuses  to  aid  him  in  the 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  440. 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  411.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  208. 

"  Br.  S.  P.  O..  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  407.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  209. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  311. 

"  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  195.     R  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  206. 


23. 


SEAL  AND  FLAG  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.  495 

schemes  of  enthralment  whicli  lie  proposes  for  New  Eng-  chap. 
land,  and   he  urges   again  the   sending   of  a  general  gov-  >_j^ 
ernor.     This  letter  presents  a  curious  picture  of  the  di-  16  86. 
vided.  councils  that  prevailed  in  the  colonies,  even  among        °' 
the  despotic   ministers   of  King  James.^     The   Quakers     nc^ 
also  prepared  a.n  address  to  send  by  Robert  Hodgson,  one 
of  their  members,  in  which  they  ask  that  their  religious 
privileges  may  be  preserved  to  them,  and  their  peculiar 
views  in   regard  to  oaths  and  military  service  may  be 
respected.'^ 

Upon  receipt  of  the  address  of  the  General  Assembly,  Sept. 
additional  instructions  were  given  to  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  charter,  upon  his  arrival, 
and  to  take  Rhode  Island  under  his  government,  assuring 
the  colony  of  the  royal  protection,  and  to  do  the  same 
with  Connecticut  in  case  her  people  should  likewise  de- 
cide to  surrender  their  charter.^  A  few  days  later  the 
last  acts  necessary  to  the  departure  of  Andros  to  enter  upon 
the  government  of  New  England,  were  concluded  by  giv- 
ing him  the  seal  and  flag  prepared  for  the  consolidated 
provinces.  The  seal  employed  by  the  president  and 
council  represented  an  Indian  with  a  bow  in  his  left  hand 
and  an  arrow  in  his  right,  and  the  inscription,  "  sigilum 

PE^SID.   CONCIL.  DOM.    REG.    IN  NOV.    ANGLIA,''    withiu    the 

border.*  The  new  seal  was  more  elaborate,  and  is  thus 
described  in  the  receipt  given  for  it  by  Andros — "  en- 
graven on  the  one  side  with  his  Majesty's  effigies  standing 
under  a  canopy,  robed  in  his  royal  vestments  and  crown- 

\3.  M,  H,  C,  vii.  loi.    R.  I.  Col.  Rec ,  iii.  206. 

''  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p  419. 

^  3.  M.  H.  C ,  vii.  162.    R.  L  Col.  Rec,  iii.  218. 

*  The  Seal  of  the  Presiding  Cocxcil  of  our  Lord  the  King  in  New 
Englaxd,  Copies  of  this  are  attached  to  tbe  proclamations  of  Dudley  before 
mentioned,  in  the  British  State  Paper  Office,  London.  No  copies  of  the  An- 
dros seal  appear  in  the  British  archives.  The  proceedings  of  his  council  were 
transmitted  to  England  but  have  not  been  found  among  tbe  government  rec- 
9rds.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  may  some  day  be  discovered. 


29 


496  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ed,  with  a  sceptre  in  the  left  hand,  the  right  hand  being 
\^.^  extended   towards  an   Englishman  and  an   Indian,  both 
IG8  6.  kneeling;  the  one  jjresenting  the  fruits  of  the   country, 
and  the  other  a  scroll,  and  over   their  heads  a  .Cherubin 
holding  another  scroll  with  this  motto  :  Nunquam  libertas 
gratior  extat,  with  his  Majesty's  titles  around  the  circum- 
ference ;  there  being  on  the  other  side  the   King's  arms, 
with  the  garter,  crown,  supporters  and  motto,,  and  this  in- 
scription round  the  circumference  :  Sigillum  Nov;b  Anglite 
in  America,"  '     A  plate  representing  the  New  England 
colors,  under  the  administration  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
from  the  original  design  in  the   British   archives,  is  here 
offered  as  a  rare  historical  curiosity,^ 
Q  .  It  would  seem  as  if  every  separate  interest  in  Rhode 

11.  Island  determined  to  be  heard  on  its  own  account  by 
the  King.  The  people  of  Providence  sent  an  address  re- 
signing their  charter,  asking  to  be  annexed  to  the  general 
New  England  government,  and  disowning  the  Assembly's 
address.  This  was  the  seventh  memorial  that  was  sent 
from  this  colony  within  about  three  months.^ 

The  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  that  glorious 
decree  by  which  Henry  of  Navarre  secured  toleration  to 
the  Protestants  of  France,  was  the  crowning  act  of  Jesuit 
intrigue  which  only  the  genius  of  Colbert  had  hitherto  foil- 
ed. Upon  his  death  the  last  obstacle  to  the  cxtiri)ation 
of  Calvinism  in  France  was  removed.  The  edict  of  Henry 
IV.  was  revoked  by  Louis  XIV.,  liberty  of  conscience  was 
abolished,  and  a  fierce  persecution  of  the  Huguenots  en- 
sued. More  than  half  a  million  of  the  most  skilful,  in- 
dustrious and  loyal  subjects  of  the  Bourbon  lied  from  their 

'  Br.  S,  P,  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iv.  p.  267. 

'  Br,  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  iv.  p.  223. 

'  The  Ist,  from  the  Assembly,  July  3.  2d.  Divers  freemen,  July  16.  3d, 
Rsindal  Iloldcn's,  4th.  Justices  of  Narraganset.  .oth.  Pawtuxet.  6tli.  Quakers, 
all  in  August.  7th.  Providence,  Oct.  II.  Only  the  first  of  these  is  found 
upon  our  State  records.  The  originals  of  them  all  are  filed  in  the  British 
State  Paper  Office,  Ix>ndon,  as  referred  to  in  the  notes. 


THE   HUGUENOTS   IN    RHODE   ISLAND.  497 

native  land,  and  introduced  into  other  countries  the  arts  chap, 
and  commerce  of  which  they  were  masters.^  The  eflfect  .^^JL. 
upon  France  for  a  time  was  scarcely  less  disastrous  1 6  8  G. 
than  that  which  followed  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  in 
Spain,  two  centuries  before,  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
The  banished  Huguenots  carried  with  them  over  the 
world  the  blessings  of  a  vital  faith,  of  frugal  habits, 
and  the  knowledge  of  new  sources  of  useful  and  elegant 
industry.  Wherever  they  settled  their  descendants  re- 
main, to  this  day,  living  witnesses  of  the  loss  entailed  by 
Jesuit  craft  upon  the  country  of  their  origin.  Numbers 
of  them  emigrated  to  America  ;  some  of  these  found 
their  way  to  New  England,  and  settled  in  Rhode  Island, 
where  they  could  enjoy  the  freedom  that  w^as  denied  them 
at  home.  An  agreement  was  made  between  the  Narra-  12. 
ganset  proprietors  and  the  Rev.  Ezekiel  Carre  and  P. 
Berton,  in  behalf  of  the  French  refugees,  for  the  settle- 
ment of  a  place  called  Newberry  Plantation,  but  this  be- 
ing too  far  from  the  sea,  another  spot  was  selected,  near 
John  Foanes'  house  in  Rochester  (Kingston),  and  a  new 
agreement  made  between  the  parties.  The  j)rice  fixed  ^o^« 
was  four  shillings  an  acre,  cash,  or  twenty-five  pounds  for 
every  one  hundred  acres,  being  five  shillings  an  acre,  pay- 
able in  three  years,  with  interest  at  six  per  cent,  there- 
after. Each  family  was  to  have  one  hundred  acres  of  up- 
land, if  they  desired  so  much,  and  a  proportionate  part 
of  meadow.  M.  Carre,  the  minister,  was  to  have  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  gratis  ;  one  hundred  acres  were  as- 
signed as  glebe  land,  and  fifty  acres  to  support  a  Protest- 
ant  schoolmaster.      Forty-five   families   commenced   the 

*  This  celebrated  edict  was  issued  by  Henry  IV.  in  1598,  and  revoked  by 
Louis  XIV.,  Oct.  24.  1685.  800,000  Protestants  fled  from  France  during  the 
persecution  that  ensued.  England  gained  immensely  by  this  fatal  policy  of 
her  inveterate  foe.  50,000  artisans  sought  refuge  in  London,  and  introduced 
the  manufacture  of  silk,  crystal  glasses,  jewelry',  and  other  fine  works,  many 
of  them  before  unknown,  but  ever  since  successfully  prosecuted  in  England. 
Anderson's  History  of  Commerce. 

VOL.   I. — 32 


498  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

settlement,  built  a  church  and  twenty-five  houses,  and 
prospered  for  some  years  until  dispersed  by  the  lawless 
conduct  of  their  neighbors,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown.' 

At  length  the  Rose  frigate,  bearing  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dros,  with  two  companies  of  royal  troops,  the  first  ever 
stationed  in  New  England,  and,  except  those  sent  for  the 
conquest  of  New  Netherlands,  the  first  ever  s.gen  here, 
arrived  at  Boston.  The  Dudley  government  was  super- 
seded, and  the  president  made  chief  justice.  Andros, 
by  his  commission,  was  in  effect  absolute,  having  power  to 
appoint  and  remove  members  of  his  council.  With  their 
consent  he  could  enact  laws,  levy  taxes,  and  control  the 
militia  of  the  country.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  organize 
a  system  of  despotism  which  has  made  his  memory  de- 
16  86.  tested  wherever  freedom  has  a  name.  Duiing  the  two 
April  ye^rs  and  four  months  that  his  administration  existed,  the 
168  9.  people  of  New  England  were  at  the  mercy  of  a  tyrant. 
Massachusetts  sufiered  most,  as  she  was  the  wealthiest 
and.  most  powerful  of  the  colonies,  and  she  felt  most  koenly 
the  first  blow  inflicted  by  her  persecutor — wherein  Rhode 
Island  could  have  no  sympathy  with  her  griefs — the  over- 
throw of  the  Puritan  theocracy,  and  the  introduction  of 
the  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  But  in  the  greater 
part  of  his  acts,  all  the  colonies  suffered  alike  in  propor- 
tion to  their  strength.  Taxes  were  levied  without  consent 
of  the  people.  Public  fees  were  enormously  increased, 
that  of  probate  some  twenty-fold.  Town  governments 
were  almost  annihilated,  colonies  were  made  simple  coun- 
ties, and  the  whole  country  reduced  to  one  vast  province. 
Writs  of  intrusion  involved  landed  proprietors  in  expen- 
sive suits  to  defend  or  confirm  their  titles.     Marriages  by 

'  The  agreement,  and  the  remonstrance  of  Dr.  Pierre  Ayrault  in  1705, 
from  which  the  above  facts  are  taken,  are  filed  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England, 
vol.  13,  together  with  a  plot  of  Frenchtowu  containing  the  names  of  all  ths 
families  on  their  separate  lots.  A  copy  of  the  former  is  in  Trumbull's  papers 
vol.  22,  No.  114,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF    ANDROS.  499 

civil  magistrates  were  at  first  tolerated  from  necessity,  and  chap 
afterwards  interdicted,  and  the  performance  of  this  rite  ,^_,,^ 
was  confined  to  the  Episcopal  clergy,  of  whom  there  was  16  86 
but  one  in  Massachusetts.  The  odious  system  of  pass- 
ports was  established.  The  form  of  administering  oaths 
was  changed  from  the  Puritan  mode  of  holding  up  the 
right  hand,  to  that  of  laying  the  hand  on  the  Bible — a 
dangerous  approach,  some  thought,  to  the  Papal  custom 
of  hissing  the  cross.  By  this  innovation  the  Puritan 
might  learn  to  regret  his  own  disregard  of  the  conscien- 
tious Quaker.  And  what  was  perhaps  the  bitterest  inflic- 
tion of  all,  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  the 
Episcopal  forms,  the  Baptists,  Quakers,  and  other  dissent- 
ers from  the  established  Puritan  church,  were  encouraged 
in  their  refusal  to  pay  the  tax  for  the  support  of  the  set- 
tled clergy.  But  in  Rhode  Island,  where  no  established 
church  ever  existed,  this  latter  grievance,  and  those  spring- 
ing from  kindred  sources,  were  not  felt;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  sympathy  upon  these  points  with  the  new  gov- 
ernment, that  had  the  strength  and  the  will  to  enforce 
one  of  her  cardinal  principles  upon  her  early  persecutors, 
was  cordially  entertained.  The  bearing  of  Andros,  in  his 
official  communications  with  Rhode  Island,  was  always  in 
friendly  contrast  to  his  intercourse  with  the  other  colonies. 
The  courtesy  extended  to  him,  as  governor  of  New  York, 
some  years  before,  was  not  forgotten.  The  tyrant  was  at 
least  a  gentleman,  and  showed  as  much  gratitude  for  for- 
mer civilities  as  was  consistent  with  the  nature  of  his  com- 
mission. He  addressed  a  letter  to  Rhode  Island,  in  mild  ^^^ 
terms,  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  charter,  and  desig- 
nating seven  persons  as  members  of  his  council  for  this 
government,  who  were  to  meet  at  Boston  at  the  first  gen- 
eral council.'  He  also  wrote  friendly  letters  to  Gov. 
Clarke,  concerning  the  submission  of  the  Assembly  and 

*  These  were  Walter  Clarke,  Jo.  Sandford,  John  Coggeshall,  Walter  New- 
bury, John  Greene,  Richard  Arnold,  and  John  Alborougb,  Esqs. 


500  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

surrender  of  the  charter.'     His  arrival  was  the  signal  foi 
sending  petitions  upon  disputed  land  claims.      Richard 

I  6  8  G.  Smith,  of  Narraganset,   lost  no   time   in  petitioning  for 
'^^'    relief  from  the   molestations  of  the   Rhode  Islanders  at 
Hog  Island.     This  little  islet  had  already  occasioned  the 
waste  of  almost  as  much  paper  since  its  purchase,  forty 
years  before,  as  would  suffice  to  cover  it. 
3Q  The  first  council  of  Gov.  Andros,  which  me't  at  Bos- 

ton, consisted  of  nineteen  members,  of  whom  five  were 
from  Rhode  Island.^  The  royal  commission  was  read,  and 
also  the  instructions  to  receive  the  charter  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and. The  oaths  of  office  and  allegiance  were  then  taken 
by  all  but  the  two  Quaker  members  from  Rhode  Island, 
Clarke  and  Newbury,  whose  affirmation  was  received  in- 
stead. A  proclamation  continuing  all  officers,  civil  and 
military,  and  all  laws  not  repugnant  to  those  of  England, 
during  his  Excellency's  pleasure,  was  agreed  upon.^  Ae 
this  was  the  first,  so  was  it  the  last  full  meeting  of  the 
Andros  council.  The  distant  members  returned  home, 
and  those  only  who  lived  at  or  near  Boston  regularly  at- 
tended. They  had  but  little  influence.  Four  or  five, 
whose  interests  were  chiefly  in  England,  controlled  the 
action  of  the  whole.  Opposition  was  silenced  by  the  min- 
ions of  Andros,  some  of  whose  advisers  were  not  of  the 
council.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Rhode  Island  mem- 
bers attended  another  general  council.  This  was  a  glQomy 
period  in  New  England  history.  Inaction  prevailed  among 
the  freemen  of  the  towns.  The  calm  of  despotism  settled 
over  the  colonies. 

1686-7.  Soon  after  this  first   council  meeting,  Andros'  com- 

^2       mission,  as  governor  of  this  colony  with  the  rest  of  New 

England,  Connecticut  excepted,  was  published  in  Rhode 

•  2.  M.  H.  C,  vol,  8,  pp.  180-181.    K.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  219. 
'  Those  named  in  Andros'  letter  except  Sandford  and  Greene,  the  latter 
of  whom  was  in  England  as  agent  of  the  colony. 
»  3.  M.  H.  Cr  viii.  181.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  220. 


ANDROS   PROTECTS    DISSENTERS.  501 

Island,  and  the  colony  was  declared  to  be  one  county.'    chap. 
John  Greene  was  then  in  England  as  agent.     The  policy  .J..^.,;^ 
of  the  crown  was  by  this  time  too  obvious  to  render  it  ex-  1686-7. 
pedient  to  seek  a  continuance  of  the  charter.     He  there-      {9 ' 
fore  confined  his  efforts  to  minor  objects,  and  petitioned 
in  behalf  of  the  towns  for  relief  from  the  interruptions 
given  by  the  Narraganset  proprietors,  and  others,  to  the 
quiet  possession  of  their  lands;  and  also  to  his  Majesty's 
interests  in  Kings  Province,  and  prayed  that  thepe  mat- 
ters might  be  referred  to   Gov.  Andros.'-     The  town  of     Feb. 
.  .        .  .18 

Bristol,  which  had  been  settled  not  quite  six  years,  peti- 
tioned Andros  for  relief  from  a  tax  of  one  penny  per 
pound,  levied  throughout  the  province  for  the  support  of 
government.  It  was  the  custom  to  relieve  new  settle- 
ments from  taxation  for  seven  years.  This  had  been  guar- 
anteed to  the  purchasers  of  Bristol  by  the  Plymouth 
committee,  who  made  the  sale.  A  representation  of  these 
ftxcts  was  made  by  the  selectmen  of  the  town,^  but  with 
what  effect  there  is  no  record  to  show. 

The  Narraganset  proprietors  applied  to  Sir  Edmund  ^4. 
for  a  confirmation  of  their  titles.  They  furnished  him  a 
copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Cranfield  commission,  with 
the  evidence  there  presented,  and  requested  an  opportu- 
nity to  defend  their  claim  against  all  opponents.*  The 
event  proved  that  this  was  an  unfortunate  step  for  the 
proprietors.  The  late  Gov.  Hinckley  incautiously  com- 
plained to  Andros  of  the  letter  of  Randolph,  who  retained 
the  same  position  he  had  held  under  Dudley,  as  secretary 
of  the  council,  in  which  he  had  reproved  the  Plymouth 
magistrate  for  taxing  dissenters  for  the  support  of  the  ^arch 
ministry.      Sir  Edmund  replied  sharply,  forbidding  the      5. 

'  CaUender  in  R.  L  H.  C,  iv.  102^.     Chalmers'  PoUtical  Annals,  278-9. 
«  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  429.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  221. 
'  Benjamin    Church,   John   Rogers,    Thomas   Walker.     R    I.    CoL    Rec, 
11222. 

«  TnimbuU  papers,  vol.  22,  Xos.  127-8.    Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 


502  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

constable  to  execute  the  warrant  against  the  Quaker,  and 
warning  Hinckley  to  be  faithful  to  the  King.= 

In  reply  to  the  Rhode  Island  address,  further  instruc- 
tions were  sent  to  Andros,  granting  the  freedom  of  con- 
science asked  by  the  Assembly.  This  was  consistent  with 
the  policy  of  James,  who  sought,  by  promulgating  the 
doctrine  of  religious  liberty,  to  undermine  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  thus,  in  time,  to  restore  the  Pajoal  power  in 
England.  With  this  object  he  soon  after  issued  the  Dec- 
laration of  Indulgence,  nominally,  at  least,  leaving  his 
subjects  to  obey  their  own  consciences  in-  spiritual  mat- 
ters.2 
\r^  ^T  The  members  of  the  Andros  government  were  constant- 

25.  ly  changing.  A  new  list  of  twelve  names,  to  fill  vacancies 
already  existing  in  the  council,  was  sent  to  London. 
Three  of  these  were  from  Rhode  Island  and  Kings  Prov- 
ince.^ In  the  letters  accompanying  this  list,  Andros  gives 
an  account  of  the  condition  of  his  province,  and  states 
that  Connecticut  has  not  yet  submitted,  and  that  it  is 
important  to  unite  her  to  the  rest  of  New  England,  as 
wheat  and  provisions  are  chiefly  supplied  by  her.*  The 
difficulties  that  environed  Andros,  formed  the  subject  of 
frequent  letters  from  Randolph  and  himself  to  the  home 
May  government.  In  one  of  these  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  the 
-1-  former  says,  "  His  Excellency  has  to  do  with  a  perverse 
people,"  and  complains  that  but  few  members  of  the 
council  manifest  any  interest  for  his  Majesty. 

The  duties  of  the  General  Assembly  and  of  the  Court 
of  Trials,  both  of  which  were  superseded  by  the  new  gov- 
ernment, now  devolved  upon  a  Court  that  met  quarterly, 

'  Hutchinson's  Mass.,  i.  357,  note. 

-  Hume,  chap.  70.  The  declaration  was  issued  April  4,  1687.  A  copy 
of  it,  apparently  the  official  one  sent  to  this  colony,  is  preserved  among  the 
Foster  MSS.,  vol.  i.  in  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc. 

*  Richard  Smith,  Francis  Brinley,  and  Peleg  Saudford. 

•  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  287,  201,  297.  R.  I.  Col  Rec. 
ui.  223-4. 


29. 


ANDROS    IN    BHODE    ISLAND.  503 

and  was  called  "  The  General  Quarter  Sessions  and  In-   chap. 
ferior  Court  of   Common  Pleas."     The  first  meeting  of    _^^^ 
this  new  tribunal  was  held  at  Newport,  for  Rhode  Island,   16  87. 
Kings   Province,  and   Providence.     It  was  composed  of  ijlig 
nine  justices,  of  whom  Francis  Brinley  was  chairman  and 
judge.     Its  proceedings  were  unimportant.     Jurymen  and 
constables  were  sworn.     Private   petitions  were  referred 
to  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  different  towns.     Over- 
seers of  the  poor  were  appointed  for  every  town.    Licenses 
for  Newport  were  granted,  but  the  sale  of  liquors  in  Kings 
Province  was  forbidden. 

The  questions  of  ownership  in  Narraganset  having  been 
referred  to  Gov.  Andros,  he  ordered  a  careful  survey  of  the  22. 
country,  and  a  plat  to  be  made  marking  the  several 
claims.'  Several  parcels  of  latid  were  granted  by  him  to 
Richard  Wharton,  at  an  annual  quit-rent  of  ten  shillings 
an  acre.'^  This  is  the  first  case,  except  that  of  Prudence 
Island,  of  the  introduction  of  this  species  of  tenure  in 
Rhode  Island.  The  revenue  duties  under  Andros  were 
farmed  out  by  the  treasurer  of  the  Province,  John  Usher. 
Nathaniel  Byfield  of  Bristol  was  by  him  appointed  farmer 
of  excise  in  this  district,  as  appears  by  an  original  warrant 
in  his  name  to  John  Whipple  "  to  receive  the  whole  excise  8. 
of  all  sortes  of  drinke,  that  shall  be  sould  within  the  town- 
shipp  of  Providence  by  retaile,"  for  one  year.^ 

The  intrusions  that  ultimately  broke  up  the  French 
settlement  were  commenced  by  their  neighbors  on  the  first 
summer  of  their  planting.  The  meadows  belonging  to 
them,  or  set  apart  for  their  use,  were  unlawfully  mowed 
and  the  hay  carried  ofi",  leaving  them  without  fodder  for 
their  cattle.  Complaints  were  made  to  Gov.  Andros,  who 
ordered  an  examination  of  the  matter.  The  hay  was  se-  Aug. 
cured  and  stacked,  and  a  further  order  was  issued  dividing 

'  Potter's  Xarr.,  R.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  220.     R.  I.  CoL  Rec,  iii.  225. 
-  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  795.    R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  225. 
*  Foster  papers,  vol.  i. 


Julv 


5. 


504  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

it,  one  half  to  certain  needy  persons  in  Kochester  and 
Deptford,  and  the  other  half  to  the  French  families,  until 
the  rights  of  the  parties  could  he  determined.' 

The  next  quarter  court  was  held  at  Rochester,  or 
Kingston,  at  which  the  overseers  of  the  poor  were  em- 
powered to  assess  taxes  for  the  relief  of  paupers  in  their 
respective  towns.  A  petty  sessions,  for  probate^ business 
^^^-  only,  at  which  but  three  justices  were  present,  was  after- 
wards held  at  Newport. 
26.  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  with  over  sixty  regular  troops, 

now  proceeded  to  Hartford,  where  the  Assembly  was  sit- 
ting, to  overawe  the  government  of  Connecticut  and  com- 
pel a  surrender  of  the  charter.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  sacred  instrument  was  hidden  in  the  ancient  oak  to 
preserve  it  from  his  grasp.  This  ubjf.ct  was  accomplished, 
but  it  did  not  prevent  him  from  seizing  the  government. 
Taking  the  records  of  the  colony,  he  wrote  beneath  them, 
with  his  own  hand,  the  transfer  of  the  government  to  him- 
81  self,  and  closed  the  volume  with  the  significant  word,  in- 
scribed in  glaring  capitals — FINIS.'^ 

Connecticut  had  more  reason  than  any  other  colony  to 
dread  the  despotic  spirit  of  Andros  ;  for  just  at  the  com- 
mencement of  Philip's  war,  when  he  was  governor  of  New 
York,  he  appeared  with  a  naval  force  before  Saybrook,  and 
was  only  deterred  by  the  resolute  conduct  of  Capt.  Bull, 
commander  of  the  fort,  from  making  an  attack  in  prose- 
cuting the  claim  of  the  Duke  of  York,  under  an  old  patent 
that  comprehended  Connecticut  in  his  dominions.'  The 
memory  of  this  repulse  added  to  his  rancor,  while  the 
Prince  in  whose  behalf  he  was  then  acting  was  now  the 
monarch  of  England.  \Vell  might  the  gallant  colo- 
nists  refuse  to  admit  his  authority,  and  resort  to  every 


'  C.  M.  H.  C,  vii.  182.  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  228. 
"  Tnimbull,  Hist,  of  Conn.,  cli.  xv.  vol.  i.  p.  372. 
'■'  July  8  to  12,  1675.     Trumbull,  ch.  xiv.  vol.  i.  p.  328. 


KINGS   PROVINCE    DISPUTE   DECIDED.  505 

means  of  throwing  a  taint  of  illegality  over  his  proceed-   chap. 


ings. 


XII. 


A  full  report  was  at  this  time  made  by  Gov.  Andres  1  C  S  7 
upon  the  various  claims  to  the  Narraganset  country.  The 
great  claim  of  the  Atherton  company  was  thrown  out,  as 
having  been  based  upon  grants  extorted  through  terror 
from  the  Indians  by  the  illegal  acts  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies. The  submission  of  the  Sachems,  in  1644,  vested  the 
propriety  in  Charles  I.,  since  which  no  grant  of  jurisdic- 
tion had  been  made  in  that  region  except  to  Connecticut 
and  Khode  Island.  The  Connecticut  claim  was  repudiated 
for  the  reasons  expressed  in  the  Ehode  Island  charter,  which 
latter  had  been  confirmed  by  the  commissioners  of  1664, 
who  had  disavowed  both  the  other  claims.  Several  titles 
from  the  Indians,  and  from  Khode  Island,  to  individuals 
are  mentioned.  The  rights  of  Rhode  Island  over  the 
Kings  Province  were  thus  again,  for  the  third  time,  se- 
cured to  her,  as  against  Connecticut  in  point  of  jurisdic- 
tion, and  against  the  so-called  proprietors  in  point  of 
ownership.'^ 

From  Hartford  Andros  visited  Fairfield,  and  returning    Nov, 
by  the  sea-side,  completed  the  annexation  of  Connecticut 
by  appointing  the  principal  persons  in  the  various  towns 
as  justices.^     Stopping  at  Newport  with  his  troops,  he  pro- 

*  An  anecdote  that  illustrates  alike  the  wit  of  the  great  Puritan  divine, 
Dr.  Hooker,  and  the  hatred  felt  in  Connecticut  for  Andros,  is  pre-served  by 
Hon.  Theodore  Foster,  among  his  MS.  collections.  Foster  Papers,  vol.  ix. 
"While  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  at  Hartford,  he  met  Dr.  Hooker  oue  morning, 
and  said,  '  I  suppose  all  the  good  people  of  Connecticut  are  fasting  and  pray- 
ing on  my  account.'  The  Doctor  replied,  'Yes,  we  read,  This  kind  goeth  not 
out  but  by  fasting  and  prayei.'  " 

^  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  762.  No  date  is  aflSxed  to  this  copy 
of  the  Report,  but  a  reference  to  it  in  a  later  document  upon  the  same  ques- 
tion in  1697  dates  this  paper,  Oct.  1687.  A  marginal  memorandum  men- 
tions that,  prior  to  the  submission  of  1644,  the  Council  of  Plymouth  had  con- 
veyed the  tract  to  the  Hamilton  family,  in  1635,  in  whom  the  title  still  vested, 
if  that  convej-ance  was  legal. 

*  Letter  to  Board  of  Trade  from  Boston,  Nov.  28,  1687.  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  N. 
E.  V   4,  p.  579. 


28 


506  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  posed  to  take  possession  of  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island. 

^3^  But  in  this  attempt  he  was  foiled  by  the  foresight  of  the 

16  8  7.  cautious  Clarke,  who,  on  hearing  of  his  arrival,  sent  the 
jirecious  parchment  to  his  brother,  with  orders  to.  have  it 
concealed  in  some  place  unknown  to  himself,  but  v/ithin 
the  knowledge  of  the  secretary;  He  then  waited  upon  Sir 
Edmund,  and  invited  him  to  his  house.  A  gre^t  search 
was  made  for  the  eoveted  document,  but  it  could  nowhere 
be  found  while  Anxlros  remained  in  Newport.  After  he 
left  it  was  returned  to  Gov.  Clarke,  who  kept  it  until  the 
fall  of  Andros  permitted  a  resumption  of  the  government 
under  it.*  The  seal  of  the  colony  was  however  produced 
and  broken  by  Andros.  A  new  one  was  made  as  soon  as 
it  was  needed.^  In  his  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  con- 
cerning the  annexation  of  Connecticut,  written  directly 
after  this  affair,  Andros  makes  no  allusion  to  the  success- 
ful ruse  of  the  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  nor  does  he  even 
refer  to  the  mysterious  disappearance  of  the  Connecticut 
charter. 

j)pg  The  third  quarter  sessions  was  held  at  Newport,  with 

13.  but  five  justices  present.  An  order  was  passed  to  prevent 
danger  from  fire  in  the  compact  portions  of  the  town. 
Should  any  chimney  take  fire,  the  person  using  it  was  to 
forfeit  two  and  sixpence,  and  each  householder  was  to  place 
a  ladder,  reaching  to  the  ridge  pole,  against  every  dwelling 
house  that  he  owned.  Andros.  following  an  established 
custom,  had  appointed  the  first  of  December  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving.  The  proclamation  was  genei-ally  disregard- 
ed, and  parties  were  brought  before  the  Courts  for  con- 
j^  tempt.  One  of  these  answered  to  the  charge  of  keeping 
open  his  shop  on  that  day  "  that  he  was  above  the  obser- 
vation of  days  and  times."  Another  said  that  his  boy 
opened  the  shop,  and  worked  upon  his  own  account,  but 
that  if  he  had  not  been  lame  he  did  not  know  but  he 

'  Foster  MS3.,  Bound  vol,  ii.  p.  337. 
"  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  v.  p.  74. 


GRANTS  TO  THE  ATHERTON  COMPANY.  .007 

should  have  worked  himself !  Thus  general  was  the  spirit  chap. 
of  discontent  at  the  loss  of  their  liberties  felt  even  in  _!^ 
Khode  Island,  where  the  yoke  of  tyranny  rested  compara- 
tively lightly.  A  tax  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds 
was  ordered  for  building  a  court  house  in  Newport  and  one 
in  Kochester,  The  committee  appointed  to  do  the  work 
wrote  to  Grov.  Andros  on  the  subject,  and  nominated  John  15. 
Woodman  of  Newport  to  be  treasurer  of  the  Province  or 
County  of  Rhode  Island  if  his  Excellency  should  approve.' 
Soon  after  the  report  of  Andros  upon  Narraganset 
reached  England,  Lord  Culpeper  again  petitioned,  in  be- 
half of  the  Atherton  company,  for  a  number  of  grants, 
amounting  in  all  to  sixty  thousand  acres  in  Kings  Prov-  1687-8. 
ince,  to  be  selected  by  themselves,  in  lieu  of  the  whole 
country,  heretofore  claimed. "  They  asked  that  the  land 
sold  by  them  to  the  French  refugees  should  be  included  in  13. 
the  grant,  and  that  the  bass  ponds  might  be  reserved  to 
them,  as  also  the  use  of  the  waste  lands  adjoining  their 
settlements.^  There  were  sufficient  reasons  why  this  re- 
quest should  be  granted,  although  the  terms  in  which  it 
was  expressed — "your  petitioners  for  their  parts  being 
willing  to  consent,  in  lieu  of  the  whole  which  is  of  great 
extent,  to  accept  of  part  thereof  under  such  quit-rent  as 
your  Majesty  shall  think  fit  " — were  not  very  modest  or 
appropriate  for  parties  whose  entire  claim  had  just  been 

set  aside.     The  royal  council  accordingly  instructed  An-  1.^^.^- 

.    , ,  April 

dros  that,  as  these  petitioners  had  an  eqmtaole  pretence     10. 

to  receive  favor,  he  should  assign  to  them  such  lands  as 

were  not  already  occupied,  they  paying  a  quit-rent  of  two 

and  sixpence  for  every  one  hundred  acres.  ^ 

The  spring  term  of  the  Common  Pleas  was  held  at 

Kingston,  or  Rochester  as  it  was  then  called.     An  order      g^ 

encouraging  the  fishery  in  Pettaquamscot  pond  was  pass- 

•  Potter's  Narr.  221.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  228. 
-  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  iv.  p.  762. 
^  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eug.,  vol.  xxxiv.  p.  8. 


508  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  ed,  and  a  tax  of  over  fifty-three  pounds  was  laid  upon  the 
Ji!i_  whole  Province,  or  County,  to  pay  for  the  killing  of  wolves 
168  8.  therein.  These  animals  were  still  very  numerous  and 
*  ^"  troublesome.  The  records  of  Warwick  show  that  some 
had  been  killed  in  that  town  within  a  recent  period. ' 

The  commission  under  which  Sir  Edmund  Andros  had 
hitherto  acted  did  mot  include  Rhode  Island  and  Connec- 
ticut, although  he  was  empowered  by  it  to  recefvc  their 
7.  charters.  A  new  commission  was  sent  out,  confirming  his 
government  over  all  New  England,  and  annexing  thereto 
the  Provinces  of  New  York  and  the  Jerseys,  imder  the  gen- 
eral name  of  New  England,  with  a  council  of  forty-two  per- 
sons named  therein,  seven  of  whom  were  from  Rhode  Isl- 
and.'^ Five  members  were  to  constitute  a  quorum  in 
emergencies,  and  seven  in  any  case.  The  seal  of  New 
York  was  to  be  broken,  and  that  of  New  England,  before 
described,  used  in  its  place.  Liberty  of  conscience,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  declaration  of  indulgence,  was  to  be  per- 
mitted ;  but  the  freedom  of  the  press  was  made  subject  to 
16.  the  will  of  Andros.  The  instructions  accompanying  the 
commission  were  very  full,  and  are  chiefly  exceptionable 
from  the  discretionary  power  vested  in  certain  cases  in  the 
governor.' 

The  news  of  the  prospect  of  a  direct  heir  to  the  throne, 
caused  great  rejoicing  among  the  Papal  party  in  England, 
and  was  received  with  consternation  by  the  Protestants. 
,g  A  proclamation  for  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  was  issued  by  Andros,  and  sent  to  every  county  or 
province  in  his  wide  dominion.  The  appointed  day  was 
not  observed  with  a  zeal  commensurate  to  the  occasion,  in 
jQ^    the  opinion  of  the  Viceroy.     The  birth  of  the  Prince  of 

■  On  20  April,  1G74,  old  Puinhiiiii  killed  a  wolf  in  Warwick,  and  on  29  Jan. 
1680,  a  bounty  of  twenty  shillings  a  head  was  offered  for  tlieir  destruction. 

'  Walter  Clarke,  John  Coggeshall,  Walter  Newberry,  John  Greene  Rich- 
ard Arnold,  John  Alborough,  and  Richard  Smith. 

'  R.  I.  Col.  Rec.  iii.  2.t8-54. 


29. 


ANDROS   MOVES   TO    NEW    YORK.  509 

Wales,  afterward  known  as  the  Pretender,  caused  mucla  chap. 
discussion  in  England.     Suspicions  were  rife  against  the  ^^^ 
legitimacy  of  this  heir  to  the  throne  ;  and  when,  upon  16  8  8, 
news  of  the  event  reaching  America,  Andros  issued  an-      24? 
other  proclamation  of  thanksgiving  for  the  Queen's  haj)py 
delivery,  it  was   less  favorably  received  than  the  former 
had  been.       The  people  generally  credited  the  injurious 
reports  circulated  in  England. 

The  June  session  of  the  Court  was  held  at  Newport.  "^"^^ 
Nine  justices  were  present.  New  constables  were  sworn 
for  every  town  in  the  county.  Providence  having  disre- 
garded the  orders  relative  to  the  last  two  taxes,  the  consta- 
bles were  required  to  levy  by  distraint  for  their  collection. 
Some  persons  in  the  vicinity  of  Newport  having  escaped 
taxation,  the  assessors  were  ordered  to  perfect  the  rate 
list  by  including  them. 

Upon  receipt  of  his  new  commission,  Sir  Edmund  An-  Jtdy 
dros  moved  his  head-quarters  to  New  York,  supplanted 
Col.  Dongan,  the  late  governor,  and  settled  the  govern- 
ment. French  intrigues  with  the  hostile  Indians  led  the 
government  to  take  some  measures  to  protect  the  friendly 
tribes,  which  were  afterwards  brought  up  against  Andros 
as  evidence  of  favor  towards  them,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
colonists.  Depositions  to  this  effect  were  taken  in  Rhode 
Island  and  elsewhere,  tending  to  excite  the  people  against 
him.' 

At  the  autumn  Court,  held  in  Rochester,  granting    ggpt, 
licenses  and  the    trial  of  criminal    causes  was  the  only      4. 
business.      The  succeeding  session  at   Newport  was  the 
last  at  which  any  legislation  was  had.     The  fire  ordinance      n. 

'  These  were  published  in  "The  Revolution  in  New  England  Justified,"  p. 
26.  Boston,  1691.  This  book  was  called  forth  by  one  entitled,  "  An  Answer 
to  the  Declaration  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Boston  and  the  country  adjacent,  on 
the  day  when  they  secured  their  oppressor,"  by  John  Palmer  of  New  York, 
one  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros's  Council.  The  declaration  referred  to  was  issued 
on  the  seizure  of  Andros,  April  18,  1689 — a  printed  copy  of  which  is  in  Br. 
S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  pp.  9,  10. 


510  HISTORY   OF   THE    STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

in  Newport,  having  been  neglected,  was  re-enacted,  and 
the  fines  resulting  therefrom  were  appropriated  for  the 

1688-9.  poor  of  the  town.  A  tax  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  was  levied,  but  never  collected,  for  before  the  day 
appointed  in  the  act  for  the  assessors  to  meet,  the  revolu- 
tion broke  out.  The  justices  often  met  for  probate  busi- 
2  ness,  in  the  interval  of  the  quarter  Courts.  One  meeting 
is  recorded  during  this  winter.  Once  more  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  assembled  at  Rochester^  between  wliicli 
place  and  Newport  the  Courts  for  this  county  alternated. 

March  j^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  meeting  of  the  Andros-  government  in 

o.  . 

Rhode  Island.  The  only  thing  done  was  to  fine  a  man 
two  and  fourpence  for  planting  a  peach  tree  on  Sunday. 
18  Some  of  the  justices  met  a  few  days  later  for  probate  busi- 
ness, and  this  closes  the  records  of  the  "  usurpation,"  as 
it  is  often  called,  in  Rhode  Island, 

Meanwhile  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  English 
politics.  The  long  struggle  between  privilege  and  i)rerog- 
ative  had  closed  in  violence,  if  not  in  blood.  William, 
Prince  of  Orange,  whose  wife  was  the  eldest  daughter  of 
James,  had  invaded  England  with  a  fleet  of  five  hundred 
vessels,  and  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand  men.  The 
1689.  King  had  fled  to  France,  and  a  Protestant  dynasty  was 
4.  secured  to  England  in  the  persons  of  William  and  Mary. 
The  news  of  this  revolution  was  the  signal  for  the  fall  of 
Andros.  The  messenger  who  brought  it  was  imprisoned 
at  Boston,  but  the  great  intelligence  could  not  be  con- 
cealed. The  minds  of  the  people  were  ripe  for  revolt. 
The  detested  usuqjer  was  doomed.  The  principal  citi- 
zens, including  some  members  of  his  own  council,  assem- 
bled at  the  town  house,  and  signed  a  summons  to  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros  to  surrender  the  government.  This  they 
urged  for  his  own  wclttire,  assuring  him  of  safety  in  case 
of  compliance,  but  otherwise  threatening  that  the  fortifi- 
cations should  be  taken  by  storm.*     A  lengthy  declaration 

'  A  broadside  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  v.  p.  11.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iiL  256. 


18. 


EEVOLDTION   AGAINST   ANDROS.  511 

of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  set  forth  in  thirteen  sections  chap. 
the  grievances  of  the  people  as  the  ground  of  their  action,  ^J..,^^ 
the  burden  of  which  instrument  was,  that  "  New  England  16  8  9. 
beheld  the  wicked  walking  on  every  side,  and  the  vilest  ^  ^8. 
men  exalted.  •"  Capt.  George,  of  the  Rose  frigate,  was 
seized  as  he  came  on  shore  in  the  morning,  and  carried  to 
prison.  The  Governor  and  his  attendants,  attempting  to 
appease  the  council  assembled  at  the  town  house,  were 
treated  in  the  same  manner.  Andros  refused  to  send  or- 
ders to  surrender  the  fort.  Thereupon  his  secretary,  Ran- 
dolph, was  seized,  and  a  pistol  presented  at  his  breast, 
threatening  him  with  instant  death  if  he  did  not  accom- 
pany his  captors  to  the  fort,  and  there  represent  to  the 
commandant  that  the  Governor  required  him  to  surrender 
it  at  once  to  the  people.  This  ruse  succeeded.  Five 
thousand  men  were  by  this  time  under  arms.  The  ven- 
erable Gov.  Bradstreet,  now  eighty-seven  years  old,  who 
had  been  supplanted  by  Dudley,  was  reinstated  by  accla- 
mation. The  castle,  situated  a  league  below  the  town, 
was  summoned  in  the  same  manner,  but  with  a  different 
result.  The  commander,  suspecting  the  violence  offered 
to  Randolph,  refused  to  obey.  The  courage  displayed 
by  Andros  at  this  crisis,  was  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 
Threats  of  violence  were  vainly  employed  to  extort  from 
liim  an  order  for  the  surrender  of  the  castle.  Although 
told  that  he  and  his  adherents  should  be  put  to  the  sword 
unless  instant  compliance  was  made,  he  firmly  refused  to 
yield  the  point.  The  next  day  a  committee  of  gentlemen 
prevailed  on  the  garrison  to  surrender,  with  the  promise  ^' 
of  thtui-  liberty,  but  on  reaching  the  town  they  were  all 
thrown  into  prison.  The  fort,  the  jail,  and  the  castle, 
were  all  used  as  prisons  for  the  civil  and  military  officers 
of  the  late  government,  twenty-five  of  whom  were  closely 
confined  with  their  leader.^ 

*  See  note  ante  p.  509.     Br.  S.  P,  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  pp.  9-10. 

*  Riggs'  narrative  of  tbe  Boston  Revolution.     Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England, 


512  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

When  news  of  this  affair  reached  Rhode  Island,  Dud- 
ley, the  chief  justice,  who  had  gone  to  Narraganset  to 
hold  a  Court,  was  seized  by  a  party  of  Providence  men, 
taken  to  Roxbury,  and  afterwards  committed  to  prison. 

23.  A  letter  was  circulated  among  the  people,  from  Newport, 
in  cautious  terms,  recommending  them  to  assemble  there, 
"  before  the  day  of  usual  election  by  charter,"  to  consult 
upon  what  course  should  be  adojited.'  In  accordance  with 
this  call,  the  freemen  of  Rhode  Island,  Providence,  and 

"  ^^  Kings  Province,  assembled  at  Newport,  and  put  forth  a 
declaration  of  their  reasons  for  resuming  the  charter  gov- 
ernment.^ At  the  same  time  they  adopted  an  address 
"  to  the  present  supreme  power  of  England,"  stating  that 
the  fall  of  Andros  obliged  them  to  resume  their  old  form 
of  government,  which  they  prayed  might  be  confirmed  to 
them;  and  that  as  they  were  "  not  only  ignorant  of  what 
titles  should  be  given  in  this  overture,  but  also  not  so 
rhetorical  as  becomes  such  personages,"  they  hoped  their 
deficiencies  on  this  point  might  be  overlooked.  Thus 
easily  and  quietly  did  Rhode  Island  revert  to  her  former 
freedom;  and  not  knowing  yet  who  might  be  victorious  in 
England,  adopted  this  cautious  and  politic  form  of  ad- 
dress. But  the  wary  Clarke  hesitated  to  accept  his  former 
post,  and  for  ten  months  Rhode  Island  was  without  an 
acknowledged  governor.  The  deputy  governor,  John  Cog- 
geshall,  with  several  of  the  old  assistants,  boldly  resumed 

their  functions.      Connecticut  followed  immediately  and 
9 

more  thoroughly,  restoring  all  her  former  officers,  conven- 
ing her  assembly,  and  resuming  at  once  the  government 

vol.  V.  p.  7.  Capt.  George's  account,  p.  34,  and  list  of  prisoners,  p.  48.  R.  I. 
Col.  Rec,  iii.  257. 

'  This  letter  is  signed  W.  C,  J.  C.  What  appears  to  be  the  original  is 
preserved  in  the  Foster  papers,  vol.  iv.  The  handwriting,  the  cautious  lan- 
guage, and  the  first  initial  signature,  all  attest  the  authorship  of  Gov.  Walter 
Clarke.     It  is  printed  in  Staple's  Annals,  176,  and  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  257. 

'  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  268,  where  hy  error  of  type  the  declaration  is  dated 
1C90. 


ACCESSION   OF    WILLIAM    AND    MART.  513 

under  her  long  hidden  charter.     Plymouth  took  the  same  chap. 
course  under  Hinckley.     In  Massachusetts  a  convention  of  S^ 
representatives  of  the  several  towns  was  held,  who  unani- 
mously voted    to    re-organize   the   government   with  the 
same  officers  who  had  heen  superseded  three  years  hefore. 
These  officers  accepted  the  trust  provisionally,  declaring 
that  in  so  doing  they  did  "  not  intend  an  assumption  of      24. 
charter  government."  '     Two  days  later  a  ship  arrived  at 
Boston  with  the  joyful  news  that  William  and  Mary  had 
ascended  the  throne.     The  acting  governor  and  council  of 
Rhode  Island  immediately  proclaimed  the  new  monarchs 
in  every  town  of  the  colony;  and  the  same  was  done,  with 
the  greatest  demonstrations  of  loyalty  and  delight,  through- 
out New  England. 

Dr.  Increase  Mather  had  secretly  escaped  from  Bos- 
ton, before  the  revolution,  and  gone  to  England  to  repre- 
sent the  cause  of  the  colonists.  Upon  the  accession  of 
William  III.,  he  had  an  audience  with  the  King,  who 
promised  that  Andros  should  be  recalled.-  The  order  was  J"^y 
issued  in  due  time,  requiring  the  authorities  of  Massachu- 
setts to  send  home  Sir  Edmund  Andros  and  his  fellow 
prisoners,  by  the  first  vessel,  to  answer  for  their  conduct 
to  the  king.^  Andros,  by  the  aid  of  his  servant,  who  per- 
suaded the  sentinel  to  drink,  and  then  to  suffer  him  to 
stand  guard  in  his  stead,  escaped  from  the  castle  and  fled 
to  Rhode  Island.  At  Newport  he  was  captured  by  Major  ^3"* 
Sandford,  and  sent  back  to  Boston,^  where  a  lingering  im- 
prisonment of  half  a  year  stiU  awaited  him. 

The  deputy  governor  and  council  of  Rhode  Island  peti- 

'  Two  broadsides  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  pp.  12-U.  The  Br. 
archives  abound  in  documents  pertaining  to  the  revolution  in  New  England. 
Volume  V.  of  New  England  papers  is  full  of  pamphlets,  broadsides,  and  MS. 
letters  from  both  parties  upon  this  subject. 

-  :\Iarch  14,  1688-9.  A  curious  account  of  this  audience,  from  Cotton 
Mathei'.-  Life  of  his  Father,  is  in  1  M.  H.  C,  ix.  2-i5-58. 

=  Hutchinson,  i.  391,  note.     3  M.  H.  C,  vii.  191.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  256. 

*  Hutch,  i.  392.  Randolph  to  Board  of  Trade  from  Boston  gaol,  Sept.  5, 
1689.     Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  p.  9i. 

VOL.  I. — 33 


514  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    tioned  the  throne  for  a  confirmation  of  their  charter,  re- 
J^^.!^  hearsing  the  circumstances  of  its  resumption,  of  the  proc- 
i(>9.9o.   laniation  of  their  majesties,   and  of  the  late   seizure  of 
30.     Andros.'     The  long  confinement  of  Andros  and  Jiis  asso- 
ciates was  about  to  terminate.     For  nearly  ten  months 
they  had  expiated   their   acts  of  tyranny  in  a  Puritan 
prison.     The  order  for  their  return  to  England^for  trial 
had  arrived,  and  the  vessel  was  now  ready  to  sail.     The 
haughty  royalist,  who   had  too  faithfully  executed   the 
mandates  of   a  despotic  master,  returned  as  a  prisoner 
Feb.    from  the  country  w^hich,  sixteen  years  before,  he  had  first 
visited  as  a  ruler,  and  to  which  he  was  again  to  return, 
withhi  two  years,  as  governor  of  Virginia. 

In  reviewing  the  administration  of  Andros  in  New 
England,  an  impartial  judge  cannot  fail  to  discover, 
among  the  principal  causes  which  have  made  his  memory 
odious,  that  he  inflicted  a  mortal  wound  upon  the  Puri- 
tan theocracy.  The  hierarchy,  of  which  Hooker,  and  Cot- 
ton and  the  Mathers  were  the  heads,  never  fully  recovered 
its  prestige.  To  this,  in  a  great  measure,  is  due  the  de- 
testation that  nttaches  to  his  name.  Cotemporary  de- 
nunciation has  been  echoed  in  later  times  by  those  who 
have  no  sympathy  with  the  religious  intolerance  that 
evoked  it,  but  who,  either  through  carelessness  or  timidity, 
have  neglected  to  analyze  the  conduct  of  Andros,  or  have 
feared  to  present  it  in  what  we  believe  to  be  the  just  light. 
He  conscientiously  and  fearlessly  obeyed  the  commands 
of  his  sovereign,  and  in  entering  upon  his  difficult  mission 
he  displayed  a  nice  sense  of  the  delicate  position  he  was 
called  to  fill,  utterly  at  variance  with  the  character  of 
brutality  assigned  to  him  by  his  Puritan  critics.  The 
opinions  of  men  who  maligned  the  purity  of  Williams,  of 
Clarke,  and  of  Gorton,  who  ''  bore  false  witness  "  to  the 
character  and  the  acts  of  some  of  the  wisest  and  best  men 
who  ever  lived  in  New  England,  who  strove  to  blast  the 

'  Original  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  p.  219.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec, 
iii.  258. 


REVIEW    OF    THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF   ANDROS.  515 

reputation  of  people  whose  liberal  views  they  could  not  com-  chap. 
prehend,  who  collected  evidence  to  crush  the  good  name  ,_^^ 
uf  their  more  \artuous  opponents,  hy  casting  upon  them  16  8  9. 
the  odium  of  acts  wherein  they  were  themselves  the  guilty 
parties,  who  committed  outrages,  in  the  name  of  God,  far 
more  barbarous  than  the  worst  with  which  they  ever  charged 
"  the  usurper," — the  opinions  of  such  men,  we  say,  are 
not  to  be  received  without  a  challenge,  and  the  conclusions 
to  which  a  candid  examination  brings  us  are  not  to  be 
withheld,  because  differing  in  some  points  from  the  whole- 
sale denunciation  hitherto  employed  against  Andros.  For 
the  tyrannical  points  of  his  administration  his  master  is 
to  blame  ;  for  the  petty  oppressions  that  often  rendered  its 
execution  vexatious  we  beheve  that  his  tools  were  more 
culpable  than  liimself  Their  object  was  to  enrich  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  the  people,  and  their  practice  was 
to  charge  upon  their  leader  the  extortions  that  rendered 
his  administration  grievous.  The  wide  dominion  over 
which  Andros  held  control  could  only  be  organized,  under 
the  system  of  James,  by  delegating  power,  and  this 
was  too  often  placed  in  irresponsible  hands.  Randolph, 
the  secretary,  was  the  author  of  many  of  the  acts  for 
which  Andros,  as  the  governor,  is  held  resi3onsible.  The 
mutual  hatred  between  him  and  the  colonists  was  undis- 
guised, but  posterity  has  shielded  the  infamy  of  the  legis- 
lator beneath  the  mantle  of  the  executive.  William  III. 
was  looked  upon  as  a  mild  and  liberal  monarch,  yet  upon 
the  arrival  of  xlndros  in  England  the  charges  •  against 
him  were  dismissed  by  the  royal  order  on  the  ground  of 
insufficienc)' — that  he  had  done  nothing  which  was  not 
fully  justified  by  his  instructions  ;  and  in  compensation 
for  his  imprisonment  in  New  England,  he  was  soon  after 
appointed  to  succeed  Effingham,  as  governor  of  Virginia. 

'  These  charges  were  prepared  by  Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  Increase  Mather 
and  others,  14  April,  1690,  and  were  answered  by  Andros  and  his  associates, 
at  great  length,  and  with  the  result  stated  in  the  text.  A  draft  of  the  charges, 
and  the  original  reply  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  O.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  pp.  164,  166. 


516  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP.  The  republican  spirit  of  New  England  could  not  quietly 
'^"-     submit  to  such  a  form  of  government  as  was  prescribed 

1689.  by  James  II.,  however  well  it  might  be  administered. 
The  prejudice  against  this  form  has  been  unjustly  directed 
upon  the  instrument  employed  to  establish  it,  and  Andros 
has  consequently  been  portrayed  as  a  monster  of  tyranny. 
Yet  it  should  be  remembered,  that  for  three  years  he 
ruled  without  interruption,  which  could  scarcelyiiave  oc- 
curred had  a  tithe  of  these  misrepresentations-been  true  ; 
nor,  till  the  news  of  the  revolution  in  England  reached 
Boston,  was  there  a  single  attemj^t  made  to  resist  the 
government  of  this  "  incarnate  despot." 

Although  the  government  of  Andros  has  been  held 
up  as  one  of  absolute  tyranny,  and  necessarily  so  for  the 
reasons  here  given,  the  other  New  England  colonies  com- 
plained most  bitterly  of  those  acts  which  Rhode  Island 
could  not  but  approve,  and  some  of  which,  as  seeming  to 
be  favors  shown  to  her,  were  construed  into  acts  of  hos- 
tility to  them.  So  general  is  the  prejudice  against  him 
to  this  day,  that  it  may  sound  strange  to  say  that  in  any 
respect  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  a  benefactor  to  Rhode 
Island.  "  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them,  the 
good  is  often  interred  with  their  bones."  So  has  it  been 
with  Andros.  His  will  was  arbitrary.  His  rule,  even  in 
Rhode  Island,  where  it  was  mildest,  was  oppressive  ;  but 
his  acts,  where  they  were  good,  should  not  be  forgotten, 
even  though  the  evil  predominates.  He  sought  to  estab- 
lish universal  toleration  in  religion.  This  was  abhorrent 
to  the  Puritans.  In  their  estimation  it  was  rampant 
Rhode  Islandism.  His  object,  to  be  sure,  was  to  secure 
a  foothold  for  the  church  of  England,  not  to  favor  the 
principle.  But  Rhode  Island  could  not  object  to  see  her 
free  ideas  adopted  by  a  despot,  although  what  was  a  prin- 
ciple with  her  was  merely  policy  with  him.  Again,  the 
long  dis])iited  boundary  with  Connecticut  was  established 
by  Andros,  in  accordance  with  the  claims  of  Rhode  Island. 
This  added  a  new  cause  of  complaint  in  which  this  State 


ROYALISTS   AND    REPUBLICANS.  517 

could  not  unite.     And  so  lonsj  as  he  ruled,  Pthode  Island  chap. 

YTT 

was  secure  from  the  insults  of  her  neighbors,  and  protected  ,^.,,,^ 
against  them  in  her  rights.  The  courteous  treatment  ^•^'^-^'^ 
which  he  here  received,  compared  with  the  rudeness  else- 
where shown  him,  led  him  to  represent  Rhode  Island,  in 
his  despatches,  in  favorable  contrast  with  the  other  colo- 
nies. It  is  not  improbable  that  the  assurances  of  her  loy- 
alty, repeatedly  given  by  Andros,  had  some  effect  in  secur- 
ing the  tacit  confirmation  of  her  chartered  rights  under 
the  succeeding  reign. 

Two  parties,  royalist  and  republican,  divided  the  col- 
ony. Prominent  among  the  former  was  Francis  Brinley, 
a  distinguished  merchant  of  Newport,  whose  letters  dis- 
play the  bitterness  of  faction  in  these  troublous  times. 
He  denounced  the  action  of  the  republicans  in  resuming  the  Feb. 
charter,  and  called  for  a  settled  government,  to  be  estab- 
lished by  the  king,  over  aU  New  England.^  The  bold  at- 
titude of  the  republican  party  secured  the  freedom  of  the 
colony.  In  May  they  had  reinstated  all  the  old  officers, 
and  re-established  all  the  laws  superseded  in  1686.  The 
charter  had  been  produced  in  open  Assembly,  and  then  re- 
turned to  the  custody  of  Gov.  Clarke.  The  records  of  the 
colony  were  not  forthcoming  at  that  time,  the  former  re- 
corder being  dead,  and  the  present  custodian  having  refus- 
ed to  deliver  them  except  upon  distraint.  This  act  of  re- 
sumption was  afterward  sanctioned  by  the  king,  upon  re- 
ceiving the  written  opinion  of  the  law  officers  of  the  crown, 
that  the  charters  of  Ehode  Island  and  Connecticut,  never 
having  been  revoked,  but  only  suspended,  still  remained 
in  full  force  and  effect.^     Had  the  royalists,  who  doubted 

'  Abstracts  of  his  private  letters  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  v.  p. 
413.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  259. 

^  Tlie  opinions  of  Ward,  and  of  the  then  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General, 
in  the  case  of  Connecticut,  were  rendered  2d  August,  1690,  and  apply  equally 
to  R.  I.  Hutchinson,  i.  406  note.  The  opinion  of  Attorney  General  Ward 
specially  upon  the  R.  I.  charter,  was  given  three  years  later,  Dec.  7,  1693.  con- 
firming the  acts  of  the  people  under  it  on  every  point.  It  is  in  Br.  S.  P.  O., 
New  Eng.,  vol.  vii.  and  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  493. 


518  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,   the  legality  of  these  acts,  prevailed,  and  a  renewal  of  the 

J^J^  charter  been  applied  for,  it  could  not  have  been  obtained 

'kIi^'^'  ^^'^^^  ^  liberal  provisions  as  the  old  one,  if  at  all  ;  and 

most  probably  Rhode  Island  would  have  met  the  fate  of 

Plymouth,  and  been  absorbed  by  Massachusetts  \inder  a 

general  governor. 

The  defective  government  of  the  last  ten  months  called 
for  legislative  action.  The  General  Assembly  wa"§  as  yet 
unorganized,  and  the  chief  magistrate  was  doubtful  of  his 
powers,  or  shrank  from  the  duties  of  his  post.  A  meet- 
mg  of  the  assemblv  had  been  called  bv  Gov.  Clarke,  in 
October,  the  regular  time  appointed  by  charter;  but  a 
storm  prevented  the  mainland  towns  from  being  repre- 
sented, and  the  governor  himself  had  failed  to  attend. 
At  length  the  Assembly  convened  for  the  first  time  for 

26.  nearly  four  years.  The  deputy  governor,  six  assistants, 
the  new  recorder,  chosen  by  the  freemen  in  May,  the  gen- 
eral sergeant,  and  seventeen  deputies,  were  present.  The 
Assembly  proceeded  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  their  number. 
Absentees  were  sent  for.  The  governor  obeyed  the  sum- 
mons, but  declined  to  retain  his  office.  Christopher  Almy 
was  elected  in  his  place,  but  he  also  declined.     It  was 

27.  then  that  "  all  eyes  turned  to  one  of  the  old  Antinomian 
exiles,  the  more  than  octogenarian,  Henry  Ball;  and  the 
fearless  Quaker,  true  to  the  light  within,  employed  the 
last  glimmerings  of  life  to  restore  the  democratic  charter 
of  Rhode  Island."  '  Benedict  Arnold,  son  of  the  late 
governor,  was  elected  an  assistant ;  and  Almy,  who  de- 
clined to  be  governor,  consented  to  fill  another  vacancy  in 
that  body.  Gov.  Clarke  refused  to  deliver  the  charter, 
and  other  official  papers,  to  a  committee  of  the  Assembly 
appointed  to  receive  them.  He  gave  them  leave  to  take 
it,  but  refused  himself  to  open  the  chest  in  which  it  was 
kept.  It  is  said  that  his  extreme  caution  was  only  over- 
come by  an  order  for  the  sheriff  to  arrest  and  confine  him 

•  Bancroft,  chap.  17,  vol.  2,  p.  360. 


RESUMPTION  OF  THE  CHARTER.  519 

in  prison,  upon  whicli  the  required  documents  were  handed  chap. 

over,  and  placed  in  charge  of  Gov.  Bull  ;    but  it  appears  ^,,L. 

from  the  records  that  he  retained  the  charter  till  the  an-  }^f^^~^t 

March 

nual  election — two  months  later,  and  then  gave  it  up,  on 
a  second  demand,  to  the  assembly. '  There  was  a  policy 
in  all  this  which  was  so  apparent  that  Clarke  never  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  The  funds  of  the  colony 
were  in  the  hands  of  Roger  Xiolden,  to  be  appropriated 
to  building  a  colony  house.  He  paid  them  over  without  j, 
demur.  A  new  seal  "  being  the  anchor,  with  the  motto, 
Hope,"  was  procured  by  the  Assembly,  in  place  of  the  one 
broken  by  Andros,  The  declaration  of  war  between 
France  and  England  was  proclaimed.  Col.  Church  was  ^' 
at  this  time  fighting  the  French  and  Indians,  at  the  east- 
ward; and  very  soon  the  war"  was  to  be  brought  nearer 
home  by  the  presence  of  a  French  fleet  on  our  coast. 
The  towns  were  put  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  the  French 
refugees  in  Narraganset  were  required  to  present  them- 
selves to  John  Greene,  at  Warwick,  and  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  required  by  the  king,  in 
consideration  of  which  they  were  to  remain  undisturbed, 
behaving  peaceably. 

At  the  next  regular  session  of  the  Assembly,  the  day  ^  ' 
previous  to  the  annual  election,  all  the  members  were  6. 
present.  The  charter  was  publicly  read,  as  in  former 
days,  and  the  election  proceeded  with  in  usual  form.  De- 
clining years  compelled  Gov.  Bull  to  refuse  a  re-election. 
The  deputy  governor  was  then  chosen,  but  refused,  per- 
haps from  the  same  cause.  John  Easton  was  then  elected 
governor,  and  Major  John  Greene,  deputy  governor.  The 
list  of  assistants  was  completed  to  ten,  and  the  other  gen- 
eral officers,  and  two  majors,  were  chosen  as  heretofore. 

The  first  grand  period  of  Rhode  Island  history,  the 
formation  period,  was  ended.  The  era  of  domestic  strife 
and  outward  conflict  for  existence,  of  change  and  inter- 

*  Foster  papers,  Boand  vol.  i.  p.  337. 


520  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

ruption,  of  doubt  and  gloom,  anxiety  and  distress,  had 
almost  jDassed.  The  problem  of  self-government  was 
solved,  and  a  new  era  of  independent  action  commenced, 
which  was  to  continue  unbroken  for  an  entire  century,  un- 
til her  separate  sovereignty  should  be  merged  in  the  Amer- 
ican Union,  by  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution  ; 
and  her  royal  charter,  the  noble  work  of  her  republican 
founders,  was  never  again  to  be  interrupted,  not  even  by 
the  storm  of  revolution,  until  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half  had  made  its  provisions  obsolete. 

The  colony  house,  j)rojected  during  the"  government  of 
Andros,  was  now  nearly  completed,  and  received  the  name 
of  the  Town  House.  The  governor,  deputy  governor,  and 
assistants,  on  account  of  the  expense  attending  their  of- 
ficial duties,  and  their  receixnng  no  salary,  were  excused 
for  the  future  from  paying  any  colony  tax.  The  war  with 
the  French  and  Indians  raged  all  alonor  the  northern  fron- 
tier.  Leisler,  governor  of  New  York,  demanded  assist- 
ance from  all  the  colonies.  Rhode  Island  could  not  spare 
men,  but  voted  a  tax  of  three  hundred  pounds  solely  for 
this  purpose.  The  effective  force  of  New  England  at  this 
time,  as  shown  in  a  tabular  statement  of  the  enrolled  mi- 
litia, furnished  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros  to  the  royal  coun- 
cil, was  over  thirteen  thousand  men.  Of  these,  eight 
hundred  were  in  Rhode  Island,  exclusive  of  the  eastern 
shore,  which  was  included  in  Plymouth.'  A  fleet  of  seven 
sail  of  French  privateers  made  a  descent  upon  the  coast, 

I  Rhode  Island,  <&c.  Kings  Province  and  Protidcnce  Plantations. 

Capt.  Pelham,   Newport,  Ist  Co.      104  Major  Richard  Smith. 

Capt.  Riigers,         do  2d  do         85         Major  Gen.  AVinthrop,  Providence,    175 

Capt.  Arnold,  Portsmouth,  105         Capt.  Fones,  Rochester,  (Kingston,)  136 

Capt.  Joseph  Arnold,  Jamestown,        84         Capt.  Gorton,  Warwick,  60 

Capt.  Davoll.  Feversham,  (Westerly,)  56 

828        Capt.  Weaver,  Deptford,  (Greenwich)  87 

These  were  under  Major  John  Walley,  

with  the  County  of  Bristol  troops,  number-  464 

ing  780.  It  would  seem  by  this  that  the  Provi- 

dence troops  were  attached  to  a  Connecti- 
cut division. 
Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng.,  vol.  v.  p.  202. 


13. 


21. 


NAVAL    VICTORY    OVER    THE    FRENCH.  521 

captured  Nantucket,  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  Block  Island,  chap. 
where  they  committed  horrible  excesses.  Bonfires  were  ^^ 
lio^hted  at  Pawcatuck,  and  thence  all  along;  the  shore,  to  16  9  0. 
arouse  the  country.  A  sloop  with  thirty-four  men  was  jg^ 
at  once  sent  out  from  Newport  to  reconnoitre.  A  portion 
of  the  enemy  entered  the  harbor  of  Newport  by  night,  to  l-^- 
sur\irise  the  town  ;  but  failing  in  this,  they  proceeded  to 
attack  New  London,  and  were  beaten  off.  Thence  they 
landed  at  Fisher's  Island,  and  burnt  the  only  house  upon 
it.  There  a  small  body  of  seventeen  men,  from  Stoning- 
ton,  surprised  a  party  of  them,  and  killed  one  Trimming, 
an  English  renegade,  who  had  served  as  their  decoy  at  the 
taking  of  Block  Island.  An  expedition,  consisting  of  two 
sloops  with  about  ninety  men,  under  command  of  Capt. 
Thomas  Paine,  was  sent  out  from  Newport  to  attack  the  20. 
enemy.  Capt.  John  Godfrey  was  Paine's  second.  The 
next  day  they  fell  in  with  five  French  sail  near  Block  Isl- 
and. Paine  sent  a  few  men  on  shore  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  landing,  and  ran  his  vessels  into  shallow  w^ater  to 
avoid  being  surrounded.  The  French  force  numbered  two 
hundred  men,  under  one  Pekar,  a  Frenchman  who  had 
sailed  as  a  lieutenant  with  Capt.  Paine,  in  privateering 
expeditions,  some  years  before.  At  five  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon the  enemy  came  up  with  the  intention  of  board- 
ing, but  was  repulsed.  A  bloody  action  ensued  for  two 
hours  and  a  half,  till  night  separated  the  combatants. 
Pekar  withdrew  with  the  loss  of  nearly  one-half  his  men,  in 
killed  and  wounded.  Paine's  loss  was  only  one  man  killed, 
and  six  w^ounded.  The  next  day  the  French  put  to  sea. 
Paine  gave  chase,  and  compelled  them  to  sink  a  prize, 
loaded  with  wines  and  brandy,  which  they  had  taken. 
The  alarm  caused  by  this  bold  assault,  induced  many 
persons  to  remove  their  property  from  Newport,  to  places 
of  greater  security.  To  Block  Island  this  was  but  the 
commencement  of  a  series  of  sufferings  to  which  that  ex- 
posed spot  was  subjected  from  foreign  foes,  as  it  had  often 


22. 


522  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  already  been  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The  dangers 
of  the  sea,  and  the  sterner  perils  of  war,  united  to  pro- 
duce a  race  of  men  whose  courage  and  hardihood  cannot 
be  surpassed.  The  brilliant  exploit  of  Paine  at  once  in- 
spired the  people  of  this  colony  with  a  naval  spirit.  It 
was  the  first  victory  of  Rhode  Island  on  the  open  ocean, 
and  the  worthy  harbinger  of  many  daring  deeds.'  Three 
subsequent  attempts  upon  Block  Island  were  made  by 
the  French,  during  this  war,  as  related  by  Niles.  The 
second  was  a  night  attack  : "  the  people  were  maltreated, 
and  their  cattle  carried  off,  but  no  one  was.  killed.  The 
next  time  the  privateers  were  captured  by  the  Nonsuch 
man-of-war ;  '  and  on  the  fourth,  and  last  attack,  the 
islanders  themselves  repulsed  the  marauders  "in  an  open, 
pitched  battle,"  after  which  they  were  no  longer  molested 
by  the  French, 
g  A  great  expedition  consisting  of  thirty-two  vessels  and 

about  two  thousand  men,  under  Sir  William  Phipps,  sailed 
from  Boston  for  the  conquest  of  Canada,  but  were  repulsed 
by  Count  Frontenac,  before  Quehec,  and  returned  in  dis- 
grace. To  pay  off  the  men,  bills  of  credit  were  issued,  the 
first  paper  money  ever  seen  in  New  England,  but  unfor- 
tunately not  the  last.  French  privateers  covered  the  seas, 
plundering  the  commerce  of  the  colonists  and  harassing 

ggpf  the  seaboard.  In  consequence  of  these  troubles,  a  special 
16.  session  of  the  Assembly  was  called,  to  meet  at  Portsmouth, 
to  adopt  stringent  measures  for  raising  the  tax  levied  in 
the  spring,  and  not  yet  collected.  A  tonnage  duty  of  one 
shilling,  or  of  one  pound  of  powder,  per  ton,  was  laid  upon 
all  vessels  of  more  than  ten  tons,  belonging  to  other  colo- 
nies, that  should  break  bulk  in  the  harbor  of  Newport ;  the 

'  Rr.  S.  P.  0..  New  England,  vol.  v.  pp.  356,  365.  Niles'  Hist,  of  Fr.  and 
Ind.  Wans  in  3  M.  H.  C,  vi.  263-74,  where  many  instances  of  the  brutality  of 
the  French  are  given,  to  which  Niles,  a  native  of  Block  Island,  was  an  eye- 
witness. 

»  May  20,  1691.  '  In  the  summer  of  1693. 


SMALLPOX    ON    THE    ISLAND.  523 

receipts  to  be  applied  to  maintainiag  a  powder  magazine  chap 
for  the  use  of  the  Island.     The  regular  session  was  held  at  w^-^ 
Providence  at  the  house  of  John  Whipple.     The  smallpox  16  90. 
had  broken  out  with  great  violence  upon  the  Island.     The     29. 
recorder  and  liis  family  were  ill  with  it,  so  that  the  read- 
ing of  the  charter,  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  legisla- 
tion, was  omitted;  no  attested  copy  of  it  being  at  hand,  and 
an  entry  was  made  of  the  reason  for  the  omission.     The 
whole  aliairs  of  the  colony  were  deranged  by  the  prevailing 
sickness,  and  no  business  of  general  interest  was  transacted 
by  the  Assembly.     So  virulent  was  this  formidable  plague, 
for  which  no  remedy  or  preventive  was  then  known,'   that  1690-]. 
a  letter  from    Boston,  written  during  this  winter,  says,     '^^"• 
"  Rhode  Island  is  almost   destroyed   by  the    smallpox."  ^ 
Newport  was  abandoned   by  the  legislature  for  nearly  a 
year.     The  general  election  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  "  it 
being  removed  from  Newport  by  reason  of  the  distemper."  16  91 
No  changes  were  made  in  the  principal  officers,  and  no  im-      qJ 
portant  business  was  done.     The  French  again  attacked 
Block  I.sland  in  the  night,  but  seem  to  have  left  before 
any  force  could  be  sent   against  them.^     The  adjourned     ^^• 
session  was  opened  at  Portsmouth,  and  removed  next  day    , 
to  Newport,  whence  we  infer  that  the  pestilence,  v>'hich      23. 
had  ravaged  that  town  for  about  ten  months,  had  abated. 
An   address  to  their  Ma.jesties  was  adopted,  but  seems 
never  to  have  reached  its  destination.     The  miUtary  sys- 
tem of  the  colony  was  revised,  and  the  power  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  two  majors.     The  militia  was  divided  into 
two    regiments,  one  under  each   major,  and  courts  mar- 

'  The  Christian  world  owes  to  the  Turks  one  of  the  greatest  discoveries  in 
medical  science.  Inoculation  was  introduced  into  England  by  Lady  Mary 
\Yortley  Montague,  in  1721,  who  had  learned  it  at  Adrianople  three  years  be- 
fore. Vaccination  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Jenner  in  1796,  and  made  public  iu 
England  in  1 799,  whence  it  was  brought  to  the  United  States  by  Dr.  Waterhouse, 
the  following  year. 

-  Mr.  Lloyd's  letter.     Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  v.  p.  362. 

*  Prince's  collection.     Letters  and  Papers,  p.  60,  No.  3  iu  Mass  Hist.  Soc. 


524  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

CHAP,  tial  were  established,  to  consist  of  a  majority  of  the  com- 
v^'^:^  missioned  officers  of  each  regiment.     An  addition  to  the 
i  ♦'i^'i    cou:*-house  at  Newport,  and  also  a  turret,  where  the  bell 
'27.     mio;ht  l>e  hung,  were  ordered. 

Tlie  records  of  the  General  Assembly  from  October 
1G90  to  July  1695,  except  the. fragment  of  a  special  ses- 
sion in  August  1692,  have  disappeared  from  the  fik-s  A 
portion  only  has  been  found  among  the  Biitish  archives, 
whither  the  whole  were  probably  sent  by  Lord"  Bellemont. 
The  history  of  the  intervening  period  is  derived  chiefly 
from  other  records  in  the  State  Paper  office  at  London, 
and  from  contemporaneous  authorities  at  home. 
^.  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  were  united  under  one 

7.  charter,  and  the  selection  of  their  officers  was  left  to  their 
own  agents,  by  whose  recommendation  Sir  William  Phijjps, 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  tlien  an  Assistant  of  that 
colony,  was  named  as  governor.  By  his  commission  he 
12.  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  land  and  naval 
forces  of  New  England,  each  colony  being  separately  named 
therein.  This  was  an  infringement  upon  the  chartered 
rights  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  which  at  once  oc- 
casioned trouble.  Connecticut  was  placed  in  a  still  worse 
position,  by  a  similar  power  over  her  militia  being  also 
conferred  afterward  upon  Col.  Fletcher,  governor  of  New 
York.  The  charters  of  both  these  colonies  were  so  differ- 
ent from  any  others,  that  constant  blunders  of  tills  sort 
were  made  by  the  Home  Government,  and  many  of  the 
comi)laints,  particularly  against  the  conduct- of  Rhode  Isl- 
and, are  attributable  to  this  source.  The  firmness  with 
which  she  clung  to  the  Magna  Charta  of  her  freedom, 
through  trials  of  every  kind,"  is  surprising  ;  and  that  she 
was  legally  as  well  as  morally  right  in  the  ever  varj'ing 
positions  that  she  was  compelled  to  assume,  as  the  attacks 
made  upon  her  changed  in  their  character  and  objects,  is 
obvious  from  the  almost  uniform  decisions  in  her  favor^ 
whenever  she  was  called  to  plead  in  her  own  defence. 


169  2. 


20. 


ATTEMPTS    OF    SIR    WILLIAM    PHIPPS.  525 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Sir  William  Phipps  at  Boston,   chap. 
the  venerable    Governor    Bradstreet    resigned   his    office.   .J,^^ 
This  was  the  era  of  witchcraft  in  Massachusetts,  but  as  1  •>  ^  2. 
the  infatuation  never  extended  to  the  less  gloomy  people    ^  ■^^' 
of  Rhode  Island,  we  do  not  propose  to  discuss  it.     The  of- 
fence appears  on  the  statute  book,  but   no  prosecutions 
were  ever  had  under  it.     The  people  of  this  colony  had 
suffered  too  much  from  the  superstitions  and  the  priest- 
craft of  the  Puritans,  readily  to  adopt  their  delusions,  and 
there  was  no  State  clergy  to  stimulate  the  whimsies  of 
their  parishioners.     More  important  matters  to  them  than 
the  bedevilment  of  their  neighbors  engrossed  their  whole 
attention. 

A  revival  of  difficulties  between  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut was  threatened.  The  latter  colony  wrote  to  Gov. 
Easton  that  some  persons  at  Pawcatuck  had  appealed  to 
them  for  the  protection  of  their  laws,  and  suggested  that, 
for  peace"  sake,  Rhode  Island  would  consent,  under  these 
circumstances,  that  the  request  of  the  petitioners  should  be 
granted,  until  further  orders  were  received  from  England. 
It  was  an  amicable  letter,  far  different  in  tone  from  the 
correspondence  in  former  years  on  the  same  subject.  Gov. 
Easton  replied  in  a  similar  spirit,  but  maintained  the  claim 
of  Rhode  Island  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  that  a  sub-  j'g  ^ 
mission  to  another  government,  by  the  people  in  question, 
could  not  convey  the  right  of  jurisdiction. 

Meanwhile  Governor  Phipps  wrote  to  Rhode  Island  re-  2. 
quiring  the  militia  of  the  colony  to  be  j^laced  under  him, 
by  the  terms  of  his  commission,  and  that  an  account  of 
their  numbers  and  condition  should  be  sent  to  him.  The 
deputy  governor,  Major  Greene,  and  one  assistant  went  to 
Boston  upon  this  business,  and  also  to  secure  the  establish- 
ment of  a  post-office  in  the  colony.  They  were  detained 
five  days  before  they  could  obtain  a  hearing,  and  then  re- 
ceived no  satisfactory  reply  ;  nor  was  any  letter  sent  by 
Phipps  to  Gov.  Easton,  as  was  promised,  but  soon  after- 


52G  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  wards  several  commissions  were  sent  to  Major  Sandford, 
Ji^  to  be  distributed  among  the  militia  officers,  displacing 
16  9  2.  most  of  those  already  in  commission.     The  Assembly  was 
2°'    convened,  and  ordered  that  the  present  officers  should  re- 
tain their  posts,  and  hold  their  companies  ready  for  defence. 
In  the  towns  that  had  neglected  to  choose  military  officers 
at  the  spring  election,  the  former  officers  were  reappoint- 
ed.    An  address  to  their  Majesties  was  adopted, 'stating 
the  .facts  of  the  case,   suggesting  that   the    conduct   of 
Phipps  was  stimulated  by  private  interests^ — some  of  his 
counsellors,  by  whose  acts  the  settlement  of  Narraganset 
was  thereby  impeded,  being  members  of  the  Atherton 
company — and  praying  that  the  charter  limits  of  the  col- 
ony might  be  confirmed  to  them,  in  accordance  with  for- 
mer decisions.     An  attempt  to  run  the  lines  of  the  colony 
was  forbidden  by  Governor    Phipps,  whereupon  the  As- 
22  '    sembly  again  met,  and  commissioned  Christopher  Almy  to 
take  another  letter  to  their  Majesties,  enforcing  the  prayer 
of  the  address,  with  a  plat  of  the  colony,  and  the  reasons 
for  the  petition. 

Governor  Phipps  was  equally  foiled  in  his  attempt 
upon  the  militia  of  Connecticut,  and  being  a  very  passion- 
ate man  he  nearly  involved  himself  in  a  quarrel  with  Col. 
Fletcher  of  New  York,  who  also  endeavored,  by  virtue  of 
his  commission,  to  control  the  troops  of  Connecticut  ;  but 
both  were  alike  thwarted  by  the  firmness  of  Gov.  Treat. 
1692-3.  During  the  winter.  Sir  WilUam,for  the  first  time,  came  to 
Rhode  Island,  and  read  his  commission  to  Gov.  Easton  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses.  The  governor  replied,  that 
when  the  Assembly  met,  if  they  had  any  thing  farther  to 
say,  he  would  write.  There  was  little  satisfaction  in  this 
cavalier  reception,  which  offset  Pliipps'  treatment  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  still  less  in  the  ultimate  result  ;  but  with  such 
as  it  was  Sir  William  declared  himself  contented,  and  went 
home. 

The   war   between   England    and   France    continued 


POST    ROUTES    ESTABLISHED.  527 

with   great   violence.     Louis  XIV.  prepared  to  invade    chaf 

England,  in  behalf  of  James  the  Pretender,  and  main-   ^^..^^l, 

tained  a  strono;  force  in  Canada,  which  threatened  the  con-   1692-3, 
...  March 

quest  of  British  America.  Orders  were  issued  from  White-       3. 

hall  for  all  the  colonies  to  send  aid,  in  men  or  money,  to 

the  governor  of  New  York,  for  the  relief  of  Albany,  then 

a  frontier  fort  of  the  English. 

The  first  postal  arrangements  in  the  United  States  169  3. 
were  now  adopted  in  the  council  of  Massachusetts.     The 
right  to  establish  post  routes  in  America  had  been  granted 
for  a  term  of  twenty-one  years,  by  royal  patent,  to  Thomas 
Neale,'  who  deputed  Andrew  Hamelton  to  carry  out  the 
design.     By  him  the  plan  was  presented  to  the  govern-      ^^^" 
ment  of  Massachusetts  to  establish  a  weekly  mail  from 
Boston  to  Virginia.     The  rate  •  of  postage  for  all  foreign 
letters  was   fixed    at    twopence  a  letter.     Inland  letters 
paid,  from  Boston  to  Rhode  Island,  sixpence  for  each  sin- 
gle letter,  and  proportionately  for  a  package,  which  could 
not  count  less  than  threa  letters,  ninepence  to  Connecticut, 
a  shilHng  to  New  York,  fifteen  pence  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
two  shillings  to  Maryland  and  Virginia,  with  one  penny 
for  delivery  at  the  house   after  any  letter  had  lain  two    June 
days  in  the  post-office  uncalled  for.     The  act  was  passed      ^• 
by  the  representatives,  and  concurred  in  by  the  council. 

Almy,  the  Rhode  Island  agent,  became   impatient  at 
the  delays  that  detained  him  in  London,  and  petitioned 
that  the  address  which  he  had  brought  might  be  read  by    Aug. 
the  royal  council.     This  was  done  and  the  subject  referred, 
as  usual,  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  in  turn  submitted  the    g^^ 
address  to  the  attorney  general  for  his  opinion  upon  the      15. 
validity  cf  the  charter,  and  the  right  ta  control  the  militia 
against  the  demand  of  Phipps,  and  to  have  their  eastern 
boundary  explained.     The  decision  was  rendered  in  favor 
of  Rhode  Island  upon  every  point.     "  I  see  nothing  in 
point  of  law  but  that  their  Majesties  may  gratify  the  pe- 

•  Feb.  17,  1691-2. 


528  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

titioners,  and  confirm  their  charter,  and  explain  the  east- 
ern boundaries  as  is  desired,"  is  the  conclusion  of  this  im- 
portant paper,  which  virtually  crushed  the  hopes  of  the 
royalist  faction  in  Rhode  Island,  and  cooled  the  ardor  of 

25  her  ambitious  neighbors.  Meanwhile  the  General  Assem-' 
bly  sent  another  address  to  their  Majesties,  assigning  the 
exposed  situation  of  the  colony,  as  shown  by  the  late  at- 
tacks upon  Block  Island,  as  the  reason  for  their  not  send- 
ing aid  to  Albany.' 
1693-4.         The  Board  of  Trade  submitted  further  questions  to 

2  "     the  attorney  general  upon  the  charters  of  Connecticut  and 

Rhode  Island,  and  the  Jersey  grants,  how  the  strength  of 

the  whole  might  be  united  under  one  Commander-in-chief 

1  6  9  4.  to  operate  against  the  French.     His  opinion  sustained  the 

2.  position  which  he  had  before  taken,  that  these  colonies 
had  the  exclusive  control  over  their  militia  in  times  of 
peace,  but  added,  that  in  case  of  war,  if  necessary  for  the 
common  defence,  a  chief  commander  might  order  out  a  re- 
quisite number  of  troops,  with  the  aid  and  assistance  of 
the  governor,  leaving  enough  at  home  to  secure  the  safety 

22  of  each  colony.  The  Board  of  Trade  having  reported  this 
opinion  to  the  royal  council,  an  order  was  issued  fixing  the 
Aug.  quota  of  troops  to  be  furnished  by  Rhode  Island,  for  ser- 
vice under  the  governor  of  New  York,  at  forty-eight  men, 
and  also  referring  the  boundary  dispute  to  the  members 
of  the  council  of  New  York.     The  Queen  forthwith  sent 

21.  her  commands  to  Gov.  Phipps,  limiting  his  control 
over  the  miUtia  of  Rhode  Island,  in  accordance  with  the 
report,  and  requiring  him  to  furnish  three  hundred  and 

*  All  the  foregoing  documents  referred  to  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England, 
vol.  vii.,  and  are  mostly  inserted  in  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  288-295.  The  admi- 
rable mode  in  which  these  Records  are  compiled,  by  supplying  deficiencies  in 
the  existing  files,  and  inserting  explanatory  documents  obtained  from  other 
sources,  in  order  to  present  a  documentary  history  of  the  State  as  complete  as 
possible,  places  the  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records  before  any  other  State  col- 
lection we  have  seen,  and  reflects  great  credit  upon  the  industry  and  ability 
of  the  Hon.  John  R.  Bartlett,  Secretary  of  State,  by  whom  they  were  prepared. 


EASTERN   BOUNDARY    QUESTION.  529 

fifty  men  from  Massachusetts  for  the  defence  of  Albany,   chap. 

Similar  orders  were  sent  to  Khode  Island  and  Connecti-  J_^ 

cut.     The  quota  of  the  latter  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  16  94. 

May 
and  twenty  men.' 

The  boundary  question  had  been  much  discussed  pre- 
vious to  this  order  of  council.  The  new  charter  of  New 
England,  by  absorbing  Plymouth,  had  bounded  Rhode 
Island  on  the  east  as  weU  as  the  north  by  Massachusetts. 
Tlie  old  conflict  for  the  eastern  shore  was  therefore  to  be 
continued  with  a  new  and  more  formidable  opponent. 
Almy  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  President  of  the  Privy  15. 
Council,  asking  his  special  attention  to  the  eastern  bound- 
ary of  the  colony,  and  supplying  the  evidence  to  sustain 
the  claim  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Massachusetts  agents 
petitioned  the  Board  of  Trade  ^  for  a  hearing  upon  this 
point  before  the  question  should  be  decided.  The  point 
was  referred  to  the  attorney  general,  whose  action  was 
hastened  by  a  notice  from  the  Board  that  they  were  wait-  '  jg^ 
ing  his  report.  While  he  was  preparing  it,  the  Earl  of 
Arran  presented  the  great  claim  of  the  Hamilton  family  28. 
to  the  attorney  general,  as  including  a  part  of  Rhode  Island, 
but  it  was  for  the  present  thrown  out.  The  opinion  re-  ^^^^ 
cited  in  detail  the  charter  bounds  of  Rhode  Island,  the 
Plymouth  grant,  and  the  decision  of  Sir  Robert  Carr,  and 
suggested  a  reference  to  disinterested  parties  near  the  spot 
as  the  only  mode  of  determining  the  dispute.  Upon  re- 
ceipt of  this  report,  the  agents  were  summoned  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Board  to  consider  this  boundary  question.  ^"* 
Mr.  Almy  petitioned  that  no  Connecticut  man  should  be 
placed  upon  the  commission,  as  the  dispute  with  that  col- 

,  '  Br.  S.  P.  0 ,  New  England,  vol.   xxxv.,  pp.  152,  165,  170.     R.  I.  Col. 
Rec,  iii.  295-9. 

*  The  official  title  of  this  hody  was  "  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  of  the 
Committee  of  Trade  and  Plantations."  A  little  later  than  this  time  they  were 
known  as  the  "Board  of  Trade,"  by  which  name  we  style  them  in  the  text, 
for  brevity.  All  the  colonial  documents  in  the  British  archives  are  marked 
B.  T.,  as  plantation  affairs  were  their  peculiar  province. 

VOL.  I.— 34 


530  HISTORY    OF   THE    STATE   OF   EHODE   ISLAND, 

CHAP,   ony  in  regard  to  the  western  line  still  existed.     The  at- 

J_^  torney  general  prepared  the  draft  of  a  commission  to  the 

16  9  4.  arbitrators,  which  was  approved  by  the  Board,  and  the 

2       next  day,  when  the  order  upon  the  militia  was  issued,  as 

before  stated,  this  draft  was. attached  to  it  to  be  filled  by 

the  names  of  the  New  York  council. 

The  acts  of  trade  were  so  generally  disregarded  in  the 
colonies  as  to  form  the  subject  of  frequent  remonstrance  by 
the  home  government.  Rhode  Island  came  in  for  her 
share  of  rebuke,  although  at  first  she  was  more  loyal  upon 
this  point  than  either  New  England  or  New  York.  In 
reply  to  a  circular  from  the  Board  of  Trade,  issued  a  year 
gg  ^^  before.  Governor  Easton  wrote  that  the  collector,  Jahleel 
6.  Brenton,  would  shortly  be  in  England,  and  would  represent 
the  fact  that  for  want  of  proper  forts  in  the  bay  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  enforce  the  navigation  laws. 

The  friendly  feeling  between  Ehode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut at  this  time  was  satisfactory  to  both  parties,  and 
could  not  easily  be  disturbed,  although  occasions  were  not 
wanting  to  renew  the  strife.     There  was  a  border  conflict 
June    between  Westerly  and  Stonington.     Some  persons  in  the 
latter  town  attempted  to  assess  a  tax  upon  the  former, 
which  was  resisted,  and  a  complaint  was  made  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  Rhode  Island  to  the  authorities  of  Connecticut  on 
Oct.     the  subject,  to  which  the  latter  replied,  disowning  the  act 
^^-      of  the  intruders,  and  expressing  a  hope  that  no  disturbance 
would  be  created  by  any  act  of  Rhode  Island  west  of  the 
Pawcatuck  river.     So  far  as  it  went,  this  was  a  virtual 
concession  of  the  points  in  dispute,  in  favor  of  Rhode  Isl- 
l  g  9  5    and.     But  the  Narraganset  proj)rietors,  as  they  still  styled 
^^l!iy.    themselves,  were  not  satisfied  with  this  tacit  aOTcement 
which  subjected  them  to  Rhode  Island,  and  petitioned  to 
have  the  question  settled.    It  was  referred  to  the  attorney 
general,  with  whom  it  rested  for  more  than  a  year. 
May.  At  the  general  election  Caleb  Carr  was  chosen  gover- 

nor, and   John  Greene  was  re-elected  deputy  governor 


MODE   OF   LAYING   TAXES.  531 

The  great  break  in  the  records  does  not  cease  till  the  ad-  chap. 
journed  session  of  the  Assembly  at  Newport,  when  they  ^^ 
again  appear  complete.     The  old  tax  of  three  hundred  16  95. 
pounds  was  still  uncollected.     An  additional  rate  of  two     '  ^  ^ 
pence  on  the  pound  was  laid,  and  a  more  exact  mode  of      2. 
assessment  than  had  heretofore  been  used  was  adopted,  by 
appointing  three  men  in  each  town  to  examine  the  proper- 
ty of  every  citizen,  and  estimate  his  income.     Formerly 
the  rates  were  laid  by  guess  work,  both  by  the  Assembly 
in  aj^portioning  a  tax  among  the  towns,  and  by  the  coun- 
cils in  assessing  the  inhabitants. 

Complaint  having  been  made  that  the  Colony  House 
was  used  for  other  purposes  than  that  for  which  it  was 
built,  it  was  ordered  that  it  should  be  occupied  only  for 
legislative  or  iriilitary  affairs,  and  for  no  religious  objects 
whatever.  Committees  were  appointed  to  run  the  eastern 
and  northern  lines  of  the  colonv. 

Governor  Fletcher  had  written  to  demand  the  quota 
of  troops  assigned  to  Khode  Island  for  the  defence  of  New 
York,  to  which  Governor  Carr  replied  that  either  the  forty-      5. 
eight  men  required,  or  some  commutation  should  be  sent 
according  as  Fletcher  himself  might  elect.  • 

From  the  death  of  Sir  William  Phipps  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Earl  of  Bellemont  several  months  elapsed, 
during  which  Lieut.  Governor  Stoughton  was  at  the  head 
of  affairs  in  Massachusetts.  A  proposal  was  made  by  the  10 
Lords  Justices  to  recall  Fletcher,  and  to  unite,  under  Belle- 
mont, the  governments  of  New  England  and  New  York, 
as  in  the  time  of  Andros,  when  aU  of  the  American  colonies 
north  of  Pennsylvania  were  known  by  the  name  of  New 
England.  But  more  than  three  years  elapsed  before  the 
plan  was  perfected  by  the  arrival  of  Bellemont  at  New 
York  ;  meanwhile  the  two  governments  continued  under 
their  present  rulers. 

Stoughton  refused  to  have  the  lines  run  between  Mas- 

'  N.  Y.  Col.  Mss.  xl.  39.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iu.  303. 


532  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF    RHODE   ISLAND. 

sacliiisetts  and  Rhode  Island,  without  which  the  quota  of 
troops  for  New  York  could  not  be  drafted  fairly.  Fletcher 
refused  commutation  and  demanded  the  men  ;  whereupon 
the  Rhode  Island  council  wrote  to  him,  assigning  reasons 
why  they  could  not  send  the  men.  Some  further  corre- 
spondence ensued,  when  the  subject  dropped.  The  Assem- 
bly met  at  Warwick.  The  boundary  between  Kingston 
and  Westerly  was  settled.     A  prison  was  ordered  to  be 

^q'  built  at  Providence.  A  tax  of  a  penny  on  a" pound  was 
laid,  to  raise  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  the  agent 
in  England.  Salaries  had  occasionally  been  paid  to  the 
civil  officers,  but  most  of  the  time  jjublic  service  had  been 
performed  gratuitously.  It  was  now  enacted  that  the 
governor  should  have  ten  pounds  a  year,  the  deputy  gover- 

Nov.    nor  six  pounds,  the  assistants  four  pounds  each,  and  the 
'"'      deputies  three  shillings  a  day  while  in  session,  or  to  pay 
a  double  forfeit  when  absent. 

j)ec.  Governor  Carr  died  in  December,  being  the  fourth  gov- 

!"•  ernor  of  the  colony  who  died  while  in  office  ;  and  Walter 
Clarke,  who  was  governor  when  the  charter  was  suspended, 
was  again  chosen  to  that  office,  probably  at  an  extra  ses- 

Jan.  sion  of  the  Assembly  in  January,  of  which  no  record  re- 
mains. Nearly  seven  years  had  elapsed  since  the  resump- 
tion of  the  charter  ;  the  government  had  acquired  the 
confidence  of  all  classes,  so  that  Clarke  and  Newberry,  the 
assistant,  who  had  refused  office  after  the  fall  of  Andros, 
now  cheerfully  accepted  their  former  places. 

Feb.  The  Popish  plot  to  assassinate  William   III.   having 

1^-      been  revealed  by  some  of  the  conspirators,  stringent  meas- 
»,     ,    ures  were  taken  ag-ainst  the  Roman  Catholics.     All  ships 

Al3.!'Cll 

10,     bound  to  America  were  embargoed,  and  letters  were  sent 

to  the  colonies  informing  them  of  the  circumstan  jes.     The 

^^  ^.^"   activity  of  the  French,  in  their  operations  against  America, 

20.  alarmed  England,  so  that  further  orders  were  issued,  and 
aid  promised,  to  j)repare  for  invasion.  Associations  were 
formed  throughout  England  binding   the  subscribers   to 


ASSEMBLY    DIVIDED    INTO    TWO    BRANCHES.  533 

siipj)ort  the  King,  and  to  revenge  any  violence  offered  to  chap. 
his  person.  Notice  of  this  was  also  sent  to  the  colonies,  ,3!I^ 
with  a  form  "  proper  to  be  entered  into  "  as  a  mark  of  loy-  169  6. 
alty  to  his  Majesty.^  ^'^ 

Governor  Fletcher  wrote  to  Governor  Clarke  for  the  24. 
Rhode  Island  quota  which  had  been  refused  by  his  prede- 
cessor. He  rebuked  the  neglect  of  the  colony,  adding  that 
her  letters  of  excuse  had  been  sent  to  England  as  wit- 
nesses against  her.  This  letter  was  laid  before  the  As-  g^ 
sembly,  and  a  reply  returned  that  the  exposed  condition 
of  the  colony,  with  forty  miles  of  coast  line,  having  three 
inlets  from  the  sea,  undefended  by  forts,  required  all  its 
strength  for  self-protection  ;  that  the  letters  of  excuse 
referred  to  by  Fletcher,  had  already  been  sent  by  Rhode 
Island  to  the  home  government ;  and  that  she  did  not 
fear  the  result,  as  his  Majesty  would  not  require  impossi- 
bilities.^ 

A  very  important  movement,  proposed  by  the  deputies 
from  Warwick  thirty  years  before,^  was  now  adopted.  The 
house  of  deputies  was  constituted  a  distinct  body,  a  lower 
house  of  assembly,  with  power  to  choose  their  own  Speaker 
and  Clerk.  It  thus  became  a  coordinate  branch  of  the 
legiislature,  with  the  assistants,  each  house  having  a  veto 
upon  the  proceedings  of  the  other  ;  and  thus  has  it  ever 
since  remained.  The  first  instance  of  the  deputies  resolv- 
ing themselves  into  a  committee  of  the  whole;  for  the  prep- 
aration of  business  occurred  at  this  session.  The  practice 
was  introduced  three  years  later  into  the  council  board  of 
Massachusetts  by  Lord  Bellemont,  and  was  of  English 
origin,  but  has  never  been  much  used  in  this  State. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  royal  orders  relative  to  the  Popish    j^^^^ 
plot  they  were  published  in  solemn  manner,  with  great  pa-      8. 
rade  and  joy,  throughout  the  colony.     A  letter  of  congrat- 

'■  Smollet,  B.  i.  chap.  v.  §  30.  Antiq.  of  Conn.,  233. 
^  N.  Y.  Docs.,  iv.  155-6.  K.  I.  Col.  Rec.,  iii.  315-16. 
*  Ante,  chap.  is.  p.  327. 


534  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.   Illation  was  prepared  by  the  council,  promising  vigilance 

^^  in  securing  the  conspirators  should  they  appear  in  Rhode 

1<3  9  6.  Island. 
"  ^'  There  was  always  great  difficulty  in  collecting  taxes 

in  the  colony.  The  people  were  poor,  and  their  situation 
the  most  exposed  of  any  in  New  England,  while  the  vexa- 
tious proceedings  of  their  neighbors  not  only  kept  them  at 
great  expense,  from  the  very  beginning,  to  maintain  agents 
in  London,  but  also  furnished  a  constant  pretext  for  re- 
fusal to  pay  by  those  who  denied  their  jurisdiction.  Not 
unfrequently  many  years  would  elapse  after  a  tax  was 
voted  before  it  could  be  collected,  and  in  view  of  the  per- 
plexities arising  from  these  sources  it  is  often  a  matter  of 
surprise  that  a  tax  could  be  collected  at  all.  Special  ses- 
sions of  assembly  were  repeatedly  called  on  this  account. 
1,  One  was  now  convened  for  this  purpose  ;  and  to  increase 
the  revenue,  a  duty  was  laid  upon  all  foreign  wines,  liquors, 
and  molasses  imported  into  the  colony.  The  latter  article 
was  to  pay  a  half  penny  a  gallon.  Privateers  fitted  out 
from  here  had  been  engaged  in  illegal  acts,  to  prevent 
which  it  was  ordered  that  no  new  commission  should  be 
granted  without  a  bond  of  one  thousand  pounds  not  to  ex- 
ceed the  powers  therein  conferred.  Wolves  continued  to 
trouble  the  plantations  to  such  an  extent  that  a  bounty  of 
ten  shillings  was  offered  for  each  old  one  that  should  be 
killed. 

Sept.  The  governor  and  council  of  Connecticut  entered  into 

2-       an  association,  in  the  form  adopted  in  England,  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  King  against  all  conspirators,  but  we  find  no 

Q  trace  of  any  such  act  in  this  colony.  The  attorney  gen- 
28.  eral  of  England,  after  more  than  a  year's  delay,  reported 
upon  the  Narraganset  proprietors*  petition,  that  the  juris- 
diction belonged  to  Connecticut  by  reason  of  the  priority 
of  her  cluirter.  This  was  the  first  opinion  adverse  to  the 
claims  of  Rhode  Island,  if  we  except  the  ex  parte  report 
of  the  Cranfield  commission,  and  seems  to  have  been  hast- 


ADMIRALTY    COURTS   IN   THE    COLONIES.  535 

ily  drawn.     About  the  same  time  the  proprietors,  probably  chap. 

weary  of  the  delay,  sent  another  petition  asking  to  be  join-   J_^__ 

ed  to  Massachusetts.     To  this  Major  General  Winthroo  i  6  9  g. 

.  *      Oct 
sent  a  counter  petition,  in  behalf  of  Connecticut,  to  "  in-      28. 

sist  on  and  claim  the  government  of  the  said  country."  '■ 
Meanwhile  Almy  returned  home,  and  on  the  same  day 
that  the  attorney  general's  opinion  was  rendered  against 
the  colony,  in  England,  he  received  from  the  Assembly, 
sitting  at  Providence,  something  over  a  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  pounds  for  his  expenses  as  agent. 

The  unsettled  state  of  the  eastern  shore  produced  sim- 
ilar annoyances  with  those  that  had  occurred  in  Westerly. 
The  Massachusetts  officers,  having  distrained  for  taxes  in 
Tiverton,  were  seized  and  placed  under  bonds  at  Newport.  Nov. 
Complaints  of  these  seizures  were  made  to  Stoughton  from  ^^■ 
Bristol  and  Little  Compton,  and  a  vote  was  passed  by  the 
representatives  for  the  lieutenant-governor  to  protect  the 
officers  from  the  violence  of  Rhode  Island. 

An  important  step  was  now  prepared  in  England  to 

restrain  the  irregularities  existing  in  America,  with  respect 

to  privateering  and  to  the  acts  of  Trade,  by  establishing 

courts  of  admiralty  in  all  the  colonies.     The  legality  of     21. 

the  measure  was  submitted  to  the  attornev  general,  who, 

"      .  .  Dec 

on  examining  all  the  old  charters  and  grants  in  America,       ^  ' 

gave  as  his  opinion  that  they  contained  nothing  which 
could  restrain  the  King  in  his  design.'^ 

There  were  two  parties  in  the  colonies  upon  the  ques-  i69tJ-7. 
tion  of  uniting  all  the  governments  under  a  viceroy.  2. 
Many  in  Massachusetts  urged  it  in  frequent  letters  to  in- 
fluential persons  in  England  They  complained  of  the 
small  independencies.  New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island, 
and  denounced  the  latter  as  a  great  resort  for  privateers, 
which  its  commodious  bay  facilitated.     The  New  York  in- 


23. 


'  Originals  of  the  three  papers  last  referred  to  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  Eng., 
Tol.  viii.,  as  are  most  of  the  foregoing  authorities  not  cited  in  the  notes. 
*  Br.  S.  P.  0.  Proprieties,  vol.  i.  p.  65. 


536  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF   RHODE    ISLAND, 

CHAP,   terest  opposed  the  union,  unless  limited  to  strictly  military 
_^J^  purposes,  on  the  grounds  that  the  people  were  too  dissim- 
iG!)G-7.  ilar,  and  that  the  rivalry  in  trade  between  New  York,  the 
less,  and  Boston,  the  greater,  would  ruin  the  former.     A 
9_       circular  was  sent  to  all  the  colonies  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
concerning  their  irregularities  in  not   furnishing  the   re- 
quired quotas  against  the  French,  in  harboring  each  other's 
fugitives,  and  especially  in  giving  countenance ..  to  piracy, 
which  had  naturally  grown  out  of  the  system  of  privateer- 
ing,  so  long  maintained  during  the  war  with  France.' 
The  independent  positions  of  Connecticut  and  Khode  Isl- 
and made  them  a  hindrance  to  the  establishment  of  any 
general  system  of  government  in  New  England,  or  to  the 
enforcement  of  acts  intended  to  apply  equally  to  all  the 
colonies.     Hence  another  attempt  was  to  be  made  to  re- 
strain them,  and  the  attorney  general  was  directed  to  ex- 
25.      amine  their  charters  with  special  reference  to  this  design. 
The  long-pending  appointment  of  the  Earl  of  Bellemont 
March   gg  governor  of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  as  captain-general  of  the  forces  of  Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut,  and  the   Jerseys,  was   at  last   announced. 
His  coming  was  to  open  a  new  struggle  in  Rhode  Islaod. 
23  At  an  adjourned  session   of  the   Assembly,  held  at 

Newport,  Pawtuxet  river  was  established  as  the  southern 
limit  of  Providence.  Deputy  governor  Greene  and  the 
Warwick  deputies  protested,  but  to  no  effect,  against  this 
act,  which  terminated  a  struggle  that  had  lasted  for  half 
a  century  between  Warwick  and  Pawtuxet,  and  had  form- 
ed one  of  the  great  points  of  dispute  in  ^the  Harris  trials 
twenty  years  before. 
1  6  97.  The  entire  records  for  the  following  year  are  missing, 

but  the  British  archives  supply  the  more  important  events. 
Although  the  long  war  with  France  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  tliere  was  as  yet  no  cessation  of  hostilities  in  Amer- 


'  Br.  S.  P.  0.  Proprieties,  vol,  xxv.  p.  42.    Antiq.  of  Conn,,  245.    R.I.  CoJ 
Rec,  iii.  321. 


THE    HAMILTON    CLAIM    DECIDED.  537 

ica.     Massachusetts  applied  to  Connecticut  and   Rhode 
Island  for  aid  in  men,  money,  and  provisions,  against  the 
common  enemy,  and  appointed  Capt.  Byfield  of  Bristol  to  10  9  7. 
obtain  the  same. 

Town  records  throw  very  little  light  upon  the  general 
history  of  the  State  after  the  government  became  settled 
under  the  second  charter,  but  occasionally  they  afford  cu- 
rious hints  of  the  condition  of  society,  or  of  matters  affect- 
ing the  prosperity  of  the  peoj)le.  An  agricultural  popu- 
lation will  feel  most  sensibly  those  things  that  afi'ect  their 
stock  or  their  crops  ;  hence  the  frequent  notice  of  wolves 
and  the  lesser  vermin,  which  became  so  troublesome  as  to 
require  State  legislation.  A  new  torment  was  added  to  .  ., 
these,  for  we  find  that  in  Portsmouth,  every  householder  16. 
was  required  to  kiU  twelve  blackbirds  before  the  tenth  of 
May  ensuing,  and  to  bring  in  their  heads,  or  pay  a  fine  of 
two  shillings,  and  for  all  above  twelve  that  were  killed  he 
should  receive  one  shilling  each.' 

Again  the  Hamilton  claim  came  up,  on  petition  of  -^ 
the  daughter  of  the  late  duke,  to  be  confirmed  in  her 
right  to  Narraganset,  and  to  receive  quit-rent  from  the 
occupants.  The  case  was  fully  stated,  from  the  time  of 
the  original  grant  by  James  I.,  down  through  all  its  sub- 
sequent stages,  to  the  report  of  Andros  upon  it.  Jahleel 
Brenton  was  asked  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  what  c^rgu- 
ments  Rhode  Island  had  to  urge  against  its  validity.  The 
Board  were  resolved  to  have  a  careful  examination  of  this 
matter,  which  should  be  final.  Rhode  Island  did  not  sup- 
pose the  claim  would  ever  be  revived,  and  hence  had 
given  Brenton  no  instructions  upon  it.  He  so  stated  in  30. 
his  memorial,  and  asked  that  a  copy  of  the  duchess'  pe- 
tition might  be  sent  to  Rhode  Island.  The  Connecticut 
agent,  Winthrop,  was  equally  unprepared  upon  this  ques- 
tion, and  made  a  similar  request  in  behalf  of  the  proprietors,  July 
of  whom  he  was  one.     Somewhat  later,  Sir  Henry  Ash- 

^  Portsmouth  records,  end  of  vol.  i.,  April  16,  1697. 


538  HISTORY   or    the   state   of    RHODE   ISLAND, 

urst  replied  to  the  same  effect,  on  the  part  of  Massachu- 
setts. But  the  Earl  of  Arran  insisted  on  a  report ;  and 
although  ex  i^arte,  as  the  opposing  claimants  could  not  be 
heard,  it  was  so  adverse  to  the  petitioners  as  to  be^  in  ef- 
fect, final.  This  document  was  of  formidable  length, 
and  chiefly  historical.  It  recited  a  decision  of  the  Lords 
and  Justices  upon  a  parallel  case,  that  "  the  parties  have 
recourse  to  the  Courts  upon  the  place,"^  and  recommended 
that  the  petition  should  not  be  granted,  as  it  would  es- 
tablish a  precedent  fraught  with  disturbance  to  every  land 
title  in  America.  The  report  was  equivalent  to  a  legal 
decision,  so  that  Rhode  Island  was  forever  relieved  from 
this  source  of  vexation.  • 
Apil  r^\^Q  acts  of  trade  were  not  so  easily  disposed  of,     A 

royal  letter  called  attention  to  their  abuses  in  the  several 
colonies,  and  threatened  a  withdrawal  of  charters  if  these 
were  continued.^ 

The  alarm  in  which  the  colonists  were  kept  by  the 
sudden  and  frequent  incursions  of  the  Indians,  can  scarce- 
ly be  imagined  in  our  day.  The  councils  of  war,  com- 
posed of  the  local  magistrates,  were  as  active  at  this  time 
as  they  had  ever  been  since  the  settlement  of  the  State. 
An  original  warrant,  of  this  date,  with  the  council  seals 
attached,  is  still  extant,  directed  to  twenty-one  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  Providence,  as  commanders  of 
scouting  parties,  composed  of  ten  men  each,  who  were  to 
range  the  country  in  pursuit  of  "  the  cruel  and  barbarous 
Indians,"  beyond  the  limits  of  the  plantations,  for  two 
days  at  a  time  ;  and  each  leader,  on  his  return,  was  to 
hand  the  commission  to  the  one  whose  name  was  next  in 
order  upon  it.  This  was  continued  long  after  the  treaty 
of  Ryswick  had  restored  peace  to  Europe, 

The  hasty  opinion  of  the  attorney  general  in  favor  of 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  222.     The  other  papers  above 
referred  to  are  in  vol.  viii. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  159.     R.  I.  Col.  Reo.   iii.  220. 


24 


COURT    OF    ADMIRALTY    RESISTED    BY    CLARKE.  539 

tlie  Connecticut  claim  to  Narraganset,  given  in  October,  chap. 
did  not  escape  the  keen  eye  of  Brenton,  who  presented  a  J^^^J^ 
memorial  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  pointing  out   the  errors  16  9  7. 
therein,  that   they  might  be  advised  of  the  facts  before      15 
acting  upon  it.     Letters  were  sent  to  both  colonies,  ad- 
vising an  adjustment  by  mutual  agreement,  or  by  refer-      26.' 
ence  to  Lord  Bellemont,  or  otherwise  to  send  agents  to 
England  early  in  the  Spring.'  Sept. 
The  treaty  of  Ryswick  restored  peace  to  all  Europe.      "^^ 
A  printed  proclamation  was  issued  in  England,  and  sent  ^^t* 
out  to  America,  with  orders  to   suspend   all  privateering 
against  the  French.     It  reached  New  England  in  Decem- 
ber, where  it  was  published  in  due  form.     Mr.  Brenton  ^^^• 
returned  to  Rhode   Island,  with  all  the  letters  and  pa-  ,„^„' 

.  .  '     •  '^         1697-8. 

pers  from  the  British  government,  above  refen-ed  to,  and     Jan. 
delivered  them  to  the  General  Assembly,  at  a  special  ses-      ^^' 
sion  held  in  Newport.     He  was  empowered  to  administer 
to  the  governor  the  oath  required  by  the  acts  of  trade, 
which   Clarke,  being  a  Quaker,  steadily  refused  to  take. 
The  creation  of  a  Court  of  Admiralty  in  Rhode  Island,   17-21 
was   a   further   source   of    discontent   to   the    governor. 
Brenton  brought  over  a  commission  to  Peleg  Sandford,  as 
Judge  of  Admiralty,  and   to  Nathaniel  Coddington,  as 
Register,  which  Sandford  presented  to  Gov.  Clarke,  who 
endeavored   to  persuade  the  Assembly  to  oppose  it,  but 
without  success.      He    then  kept  the  commission   from 
Sandford,  who  complained  to  the   Board  of  Trade  of  his 
conduct.     A  similar  complaint  was  also  addressed  to  the      01 
King.     Brenton  forwarded  these  letters  to  the  Board,  and 
advised  the  impeachment  of  Clarke,  as  a  warning  to  oth-  -^.^yq], 
ers.     He  also  urged  that  the  government  of  Rhode  Isl-      8. 
and  should  be  required  to  print  their  laws,  which  as  yet 
bad    never  bien  done."^      These  perplexities,  no    doubt, 

»  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,   vol.  xxv.  p.   109.     Antiq.  of  Conn.,  259. 
R  L  Col.  Rec,  iii.  328. 

*  Br.  S.  P.  0.  Proprieties,  vol  ii.  pp.  445-7-9.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  329-31. 


540  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  caused  the  resignation  of  Gov.  Clarke,  at  this  time,  in 
,^^__^  favor  of  his  nephew,  Samuel  Cranston,  who,  it  appears, 


16  9  8.   presided  as  governor  at  the  spring  term  of  the  Court  of 
^^y    Trials. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Cranston  is  remarkable 
for  many  reasons.  He  held  his  position  probably  longer 
than  any  other  man  who  has  ever  bfien  subjected  to  the 
test  of  aa  annual  popular  election.  He  was  thirty  times 
successively  chosen  governor,  holding  office  till  his  death, 
in  1727.  His  great  firmness  in  seasons  of  unexampled 
trial,  that  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  his  public  life,  is, 
j)erhaps,  the  key  to  his  wonderful  poi3ularity,  of  which  we 
shall  find  some  signal  proofs  later  in  his  career.  The 
choice  of  the  Assembly  was  confirmed  by  the  people  at  the 
election  ;  and  he  was  also  retained  in  his  military  office 
of  major,  for  the  islands.  John  Greene  was  re-elected 
deputy  governor.  A  majority  of  the  civil  officers  chosen 
at  this  time,  held  military  commissions.  The  Quaker 
regime  expired  with  Gov.  Clarke.  The  government  passed 
into  the  hands  of  men  whose  scruples  would  not  imperil 
the  existence  of  the  State,  at  a  time  when  firmness  was 
as  much  required  as  caution,  in  resisting  the  aggressions 
attempted  by  the  royal  governors  of  Massachusetts. 

The  subject  of  weights  and  measures,  which  twenty- 
four  years  previously  had  received  the  attention  of  the 
Assembly,  was  again  discussed.  Want  of  uniformity  in 
these  particulars,  injured  trade.  To  remedy  this,  a  sealer 
for  the  colony  was  apjDointod,  with  orders  to  procure  stand 
ard  weights  and  measures  in  Boston,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  seal,  with  an  anchor,  all  such  articles  used  in  New- 
port ;  and  to  furnish  the  other  sealers,  one  of  whom  was 
to  be  chosen  in  each  town,  with  accurate  models.  Any 
town  failing  to  appoint  a  sealer,  was  to  be  indicted  at  the 
Court  of  Trials. 

Piracy  now  prevailed  to  an  alarming  extent.  Priva- 
teers, clearing  for  Madagascar  and  the  Red  Sea  on  trading 


STATUTE   AGAINST   PIRACT.  541 

voyages,  with  roving  commissions  against  the  French,  had  chap. 
become  open  pirates  after  the  peace.  All  New  England  .jj^ 
and  Kew  York,  as  well  as  the  West  India  Islands,  were  169  8. 
deeply  involved  in  these  unlawful  enterprises.  The  home  ^  ^/ 
government  sent  orders  to  repress  them.  The  Rhode  Isl- 
and Assembly  accordingly  passed  a  law,  requiring  their 
officers  to  seize  any  suspected  person,  who  should  bring 
foreign  coin  or  merchandise  into  the  colony,  and  that  he 
should  be  held  for  trial,  unless  he  could  produce  satisfac- 
tory e\T[dence  to  the  magistrates  how  he  came  by  the 
treasure.  A  proclamation  was  also  issued,  in  obedience  to 
the  royal  order,  and  published  by  drum  beat  in  every  town, 
requiring  the  officers  to  arrest  any  suspected  pirates,  and 
warning  the  people  not  to  harbor  any  such,  or  to  receive 
their  goods,  on  pain  of  punishment  as  abettors.  An  ad- 
dress to  the  King  was  prepared,  in  which  the  remissness 
of  the  colony  in  respect  to  the  acts  of  trade,  is  confessed, 
and  their  statute  on  the  subject  of  piracy  is  mentioned. 
Their  assumption  of  admiralty  jurisdiction  during  the  late 
war,  is  also  admitti.-d,  and  defended  on  the  ground  of  ex- 
pediency— there  being  a  necessity  for  annoving  French 
commerce,  and  no  admiralty  Court  then  established  in 
the  colony — and  finally,  a  continuation  of  the  royal  favor, 
in  the  language  of  the  charter,  is  earnestly  sought.  These 
papers  were  all  enclosed  in  a  letter  from  Grov.  Cranston  to 
the  Board  of  Trade,  apologizing  for  the  irregularities  of 
the  colony  in  refusing  the  quota  of  troops  for  New  York, 
and  explaining  the  charges  against  it  in  regard  to  piracy. 
He  also  stated  that  two  men  suspected  of  piracy  had  just 
been  examined,  and  would  be  brought  to  trial.'  A  bitter 
letter  against  the  government  of  the  colony  was  soon  after 
written  by  that  old  enemy  of  New  England,  Randolph,  301 
the  surveyor  general  of  customs,  who  had  just  been  to 
New  York  to  welcome  the  arrival  of   Lord   Bellemont. 

*  The  originals  of  these  four  papers  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  ii. 
Pi    513"-5-7.     America  and  West  Indies,  vol.  379.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  336-8. 


542  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

The  charges  made  against  the  rulers  were  most  serious,  as 
that  they  were  in  league  with  the  pirates,  by  whom  they 

16  98.  were  enriched  ;  and  equally  false  was  the  statement  that 
many  of  the  people  desired  a  royal  governor,  and  would  pay 
five  hundred  pounds  a  year  towards  the  support  of  one,' 
Depositions  against  the  deputy  governor,  for  having  issued 
privateer  commissions,  four  years  before,  when  Gov.  Eas- 
4.  ton  had  refused  to  grant  them,  were  obtained,  and  for- 
warded in  confirmation  of  these  charges  ;  and  Mr.  Bren- 
ton  advised  the  Board  of  Trade  to  call  for  copies  of  all 
such  commissions  and  bonds  as  had  been  granted  during 
the  late  war,  some  of  them  being,  in  his  view,  illegal.^ 

In  compliance  with  the  orders  of  the  home  govern- 
ment, commissioners  were  apjjointed  by  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut  to  adjust  the  boundary  between  these  colo- 
gQ  nies.  They  met  at  Stonington,  but  to  no  jjurpose.  Each 
claimed  all  Narraganset,  as  heretofore.  The  negotiation 
was  held  in  writing,  as  it  had  formerly  been,  and  with  the 
^^S-  same  result.  The  Rhode  Island  Assembly  met,  for  the 
first  time,  at  Kingstown,  and  voted  a  tax  of  eight  hundred 
pounds,  currency,  of  which  Newport  was  to  pay  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  pounds;  Portsmouth,  one  hundred 
and  forty;  Providence,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  ; 
Kingstown,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  ;  Warwick  and 
Westerly,  forty-six  pounds  each;  Jamestown,  thirty-eight; 
Greenwich,  tliirty,  and  New  Shoreham  twenty-two  pounds, 
A  tax  law  in  twelve  sections,  the  most  complete  that  had 
yet  been  framed,  was  passed  for  its  collection,  providing 
for  the  first  time  for  a  jioU  tax  upon  all  males  between 

•  sixteen  and  sixty  years  of  age,  of  whom  a  census  was  to 

be  taken,  as  well  as  an  account  of  their  estates;  and  each 
man,  except  slaves  and  the  like,  was  to  pay  one  shilling 
a  head.  Provision  was  made  for  the  reception  of  Lord 
Bellemont,  who  was  expected  soon  from  New  York,  on  his 

^  '  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Plantations  General,  vol.  v.  c.  17.     R,  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  339, 

"  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  ii.  pp.  581-3. 


PIRATES   AND   PRIVATEERS.      CAPT.    KIDD.  543 

way  to   Boston.     The  governor's  salary  was  increased  to  chap. 
thirty  pounds.     A  committee  was  named  to  prepare  a  di-   ^^!^ 
gest  of  the  laws,  to  send  to  England,  as  req[mred,  and  an-  16  98. 
other  to  present  the  case  of  the  western  boundary  to  Lord 
Bellemont.' 

The  next  regular  session  was  held  at  Providence.  26. 
Want  of  uniformity  in  the  size  of  casks  and  barrels,  in 
which  jDiovisions  were  packed,  led  to  the  adoption  of  a 
standard  gauge  for  the  various  sizes,  and  the  appointment 
of  gaugers  in  each  town,  with  penalties  for  any  violation 
of  such  standard. 

Further  letters  were  sent  by  the  Board  of  Trade  to 
the  colonies,  at  this  time,  on  the  subject  of  piracy.     The     23. 
one  to  this  colony,  following  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Bren- 
ton,  required  coi^ies  of  all  privateering  papers  to  be  sent 
home,  with  an  account  of  the  trials  of  Munday  and  Cut- 
ler, who  had  been  arrested  for  exceeding  the  powers  grant- 
ed in  their  commissions.     The  letters  to  the  other  colonies 
were  equally  specific  on  the  same  subject,*^  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  instructions  to  the  custom  house  officers  how  to    \'^' 
conduct  their  business  ;  and  soon  after  by  an  order  from 
the  British  Cabinet  to  the  governors  of  all  the  colonies,  to      23. 
apprehend  the  notorious  Capt.  Kidd,  should  he  appear  in 
their  waters.^ 

'  A  letter  from  the  R.  I.  commissioners  to  those  of  Coiin.,  dated  Kingstown, 
Dec.  8,  1698,  proposing  a  reference  of  the  dispute  to  the  Earl  of  Bellemont,  as 
their  negotiations  had  proved  fruitless,  is  in  Trumbull  papers,  vol.  xxii.  No. 
152. 

■^  Br.  S.  P.  0  ,  Proprieties,  vol.  xxv.  p.  253.  Antiq.  of  Conn.,  266.  R.  I. 
Col.  Rec,  iii.  34 J. 

'■  Antiq.  of  Conn.  268-71.  Kidd  was  of  English  birth,  and  a  bold  privateer 
during  the  war  with  France.  The  governor  of  Barbadoes  induced  William  III. 
to  give  Kidd  a  commission  to  act  against  the  pirates  who  then  infested  every 
sea.  He  received  the  title  of  Admiral,  Dec.  11,  1695,  and  soon  after  sailed 
with  80  men  in  a  government  ship  of  30  guns,  to  New  York,  where  he  doubled 
his  crew,  and  went  to  the  Red  Sea.  There  he  commenced  his  acts  of  piracy, 
and  became  the  terror  of  his  countrymen.  A  fleet  was  sent  to  the  East  Indies 
to  take  him,  but  he  escaped,  and  came  to  the  American  coast.  At  length, 
grown  reckless  by  success,  he  appeared  in  Rhode  Island,  and  was  soon  after 
orrosted  in  Boston,  sent  to  England,  and  there  gibbeted  in  1700. 


1698-9. 


544  HISTORY   OF    THE   STATE   OF    KHODE   ISLAND. 

A  formidable  representation  was  made  to  the  King  hy 
tlie  Board  of  Trade,  concerning  the  many  irregularities  in 
Rhode  Island,  as  to  their  refusal  to  take  the  oaths,  their 
encouragement  of  illegal  traffic,  their  assuming  admiralty 
jurisdiction  to  themselves,  and  resisting  it  from  the  crown, 
with  other  flagrant  acts  of  disloyalty,  and  recommending 
that  a  commission  of  inquiry  be  sent  to  Lord  Beilemont 
to  examine  into  these  matters,  with  a  view  to  the  issuing 
JsLxu     ^  5'wo  ivarranto  against  the  charter,'     The  inquiry  was 

^-       ordered  at  once — the  instructions  to  Lord  Beilemont  were 
prepared,  not  only  for  this,  but  for  all  the  colonies,  and  a 

3.  copy  thereof  forwarded  to  each.  But  Rhode  Island  was 
the  special  object  aimed  at.  The  Board  made  inquiries 
of  Mr.  Brenton,  then  in  London,  about  the  extraordinary 
militia  power  of  the  colony,  and  were  informed  that  it  was 
conferred  by  the  charter  ;  but  that  recently  the  Assembly 
had  given  to  the  military  the  power  of  selecting  their  own 
officers.  His  former  communication  upon  the  subject  of 
March    privateering  papers,  with  the   queries  to  be  put  to  the 

'''■       government  of  Rhode  Island,  were  embodied  in  the  in- 
structions.    They  passed  the  council,  and  were  presented 
on  the  same  day  for  the  royal  signature.' 
Pglj  The  differences  between  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Isl- 

14.  and,  and  various  difficulties  arising  from  that  cause,  were 
the  subject  of  much  legislation  at  a  special  session  of  the 
Assembly.  The  former  colony  had  spread  a  report  that 
the  people  of  Narraganset  were  not  to  be  taxed  while  the 
disjDUte  upon  jurisdiction  was  pending.  This  was  seized  up- 
on by  the  disaffected  as  an  occasion  of  disturbance,  by  refus- 
ing to  pay  the  late  levy.  Other  parties,  without  leave 
had  intruded  in  that  country.  These  were  required  tc 
depart,  or  to  arrange  with  the  lawful  owners  wilhout  de- 
lay.    The  commission  to  treat  with  Connecticut  was  con- 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  xxv.,  p.  275.     R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  361-3. 
'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  ii.  pp.  663,  767,  and  vol.  xxv.  pp.  305, 367 
R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iu.  363-7. 


22. 


BOUNDARIES    OF    TOWNSHIPS.  545 

tinued,  and  tlie  legal  rights  of  all  persons,  whether  claim-  chap. 
iug  ownership  by  Connecticut  titles,  or  otherwise,  were  ,._,_;^ 
secured.      A  law  against  peddling  was  adopted,  with  a  i<398-9. 
coijious  preamble,  reciting  the  injuries  to  regular  trade  re- 
sulting therefrom.     Warwick  was  again  forbidden  to  ex- 
ercise  jurisdiction  north  of  Pawtuxet  river,  as  had  been  of 
late  attempted  in  the  collection  of  taxes.     The  registra- 
tion  act  was  reaffirmed,  and   marriages  were  legalized 
which  had  been  performed  in   disregard  of  the  previous 
registry  act.     The  magistrate's  fee  for  performing  the  cer- 
emony was  fixed  at  three  shillings,  with  sixpence  to  the 
town  clerk  for  recording  the  same. 

The  colony  were  informed  by  Jahleel  Brenton  of  the  -,  ggg 
movements  of  Connecticut  in  regard  to  the  boundaiy 
question.  She  now  claimed  a  great  part  of  Warwick  and 
of  Providence  as  well  as  all  of  Kings  Province.  At  the 
May  session  Mr.  Brenton  was  appointed  sole  agent  to  Lon-  ^^ay. 
don,  in  behalf  of  Rhode  Island,  and  funds  were  remitted 
to  him  for  this  purpose.  Tlie  three  Narraganset  towns, 
Kingstown,  Westerly,  and  Greenwich,  were  not  yet  agreed 
as  to  their  respective  boundaries.  A  committee  was  fully 
empowered  to  adjust  all  differences  between  them.  They 
at  once  entered  upon  their  duties,  and  within  a  month 
were  prepared  to  report  to  the  Assembly  definite  limits 
for  each  of  the  towns,  which  were  accepted  with  but  little 
variation.'  Gov.  Cranston  wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  27, 
Board  of  Trade  deprecating  the  many  false  reports  against 
the  colony,  circulated  chiefly  by  Randolph,  and  announc- 
ing the  appointment  of  Brenton  as  the  agent. 

At  this  time  Lord  Bellemont,  who  for  the  first  year  of 
his  residence  in  America  remained  in  New  York,  removed 
to  Boston.  He  was  afflicted  with  the  gout,  a  circumstance 
which,  if  we  may  credit  his  own  words,  interfered  not  a 
little  with  the  discharge  of  the  pressing  duties  of  his  gov- 
ernment, and  seems  to  have  afiected  his  temper  likewise, 

»  Potter's  Narraganset.     R.  I.  H.  C,  iii.  108. 
VOL.  I — 35 


54G  BISTORT    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,  to  the  serious  detriment  of  Khode  Island  interests.  His 
_^^  present  jiiiri^ose  was  to  break  up  the  piracy  that  had 
16  9  9.  grown  out  of  privateering,  a  work  in  which  he  found  great 
difficulty,  many  of  the  leading  famiUes,  especially-of  Leis- 
ler's  party,  in  New  York,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  New 
England  being  concerned  in  it.  By  stratagem  he  suc- 
1.  ceeded  in  enticing  the  notorious  Capt.  William  -Kidd  to 
come  to  Boston  where  he  had  him  seized  and  thrown  into 
prison.  He  had  many  friends  in  Rhode  Island  and  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  influential  persons  came  even  from  Al- 
bany and  New  York,  upon  Kidd's  affaii^sj  all  of  whom 
Bellemont  so  far  blinded  as  to  induce  Kidd  through 
their  influence  to  come  to  Boston.  Bradish,  and  other 
well-known  pirates  confined  in  the  gaol,  had  recently 
been  permitted  to  escape.  The  connivance  was  very 
general  in  the  plans  of  these  lawless  freebooters,  which 
much  resembled  the  schemes  of  a  later  fillibusterism. 
Bellemont's  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade  sets  forth  the 
secret  history  of  these  transactions,  and  presents  a  la- 
mentable picture  of  the  state  of  society  in  America  at 
this  period.  With  the  many  letters  that  he  sent  home 
this  year,  chiefly  upon  this  subject,  were  inclosed  a  great 
mass  of  documents,  nearly  a  hundred  in  number,  accu- 
mulated for  the  most  jjart  as  evidence  in  support  of  the 
charges  against  Rhode  Island.  We  shall  refer  only  to 
some  of  the  most  important,  or  interesting  of  these,  ex- 
tending throughout  the  year.  Among  them  is  an  order 
from  Sarah,  wile  of  Capt.  WilUam  Kidd,  who  was  im- 
prisoned with  him,  upon  Capt.  Paine  who  lived  on  Con- 
anicut,  to  pay  the  bearer  twenty-four  ounces  of  gold,  for 
the  support  of  herself  and  husband  in  gaol.  In  a  later 
letter,  Bellemont  describes  minutely  the  whole  afiair  of 
Kidd's  arrest  and  examination. 

To  further  his  designs  upon  Rhode  Island,  and  to  aid  in 
securing  other  pirates  known  to  resort  there.  Lord  BeDe- 
mont  commissioned  the  members  of  the  Admiralty  Court, 


8. 


18. 
26. 


ATTEMPTS    TO    SUPPRESS   PIRACY.  547 

Brinley,  Sandford  and  Coddington,  to  collect  evidence  and  chap. 
to  use  their  efforts  in  capturing  Gillam,  Palmer,  and  other 
confederates  of  Kidd.  They  accepted  the  trust,  but  de- 
plored the  difficulties  attending  it  by  reason  of  the  sym- 
pathy everywhere  felt  for  the  freebooters.  The  feeling 
of  the  home  government  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter 
written  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  reply  to  Gov.  Cranston's  ^^■ 
letter  of  May.  Its  language  was  very  severe,  blaming  the 
colony  for  sending  only  an  abstract  of  the  laws  instead  of 
a  copy  of  them  as  required,  and  that  too  an  incorrect  and 
imperfect  one,  and  sharply  rebuking  them  for  the  en- 
couragement given  to  piracy  by  the  commissions  granted 
in  1694  by  the  deputy  governor,  whose  ignorance,  if  that 
were  the  real  and  not  simply  the  ostensible  cause,  as  the 
Board  intimate,  of  his  conduct,  should  have  excluded  him 
from  public  office.'  The  correspondence  between  the 
commissioners  and  Lord  Bellemont  is  full  of  the  names  of 
the  accomplices  of  Kidd,  who  at  various  times  resorted 
to  this  bay,  and  of  those  who  harbored  them,  many  of 
whom  were  arrested.  The  urgency  of  these  affairs  led  the 
governor  to  call  a  special  session  of  the  Assembly  at  New-  21. 
port,  of  which  the  only  record  that  remains  is  the  speech 
made  by  Gov.  Cranston  at  the  opening,  assigning  his 
reasons  for  convening  it,  which  is  filed  with  the  Belle- 
mont papers  in  the  British  archives.  The  reasons  were, 
the  expected  visit  of  Lord  Bellemont  to  Rhode  Island  to 
inquire  into  the  irregularities  of  the  government  and  to 
settle  the  dispute  with  Connecticut,  and  the  necessity  of 
raising  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  this  visit  and  of 
another  agent  to  join  Mr.  Brenton  in  England,  to  defend 
the  colony  from  the  attacks  of  its  enemies.-  Just  before  y  ^^ 
going  to  Ehode  Island,  Lord  Bellemont  wrote  to  the  Board  8. 
upon  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  the  acts  of  trade  in  New 
York,  "  where  the  people  have  such  an  appetite  for  piracy 

^  The  colony  took  the  hiut  at  the  nest  election,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
*-  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  iv.  p.  643. 


18. 


548  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

and  unlawful  trade  that  they  are  ready  to  rebel  as  often 
as  the  government  puts  the  law  in  execution  against 
them,"  and  he  is  equally  severe  upon  the  lawyers  of  that 
Province. 

Bellemont  has  left  a  diary  of  his  visit  at  Ehode  Island 
and  his  proceedings  there.  The  journey  to  Newport  oc- 
cupied two  days.  At  Bristol  ferry  the  govenwr  and 
counc'il,  with  a  troop  of  horse,  received  and  escorted  him 

20  to  Newport,  where  a  meeting  of  the  council  was  immedi- 
ately held  and  the  royal  commission  was  read.     The  next 

21-  day  his  special  instructions  to  inquire  into  the  mal-ad- 
ministration  of  Rhode  Island  affairs  were  read  to  the 
council,  and  ex-governors  Clarke  and  Easton,  Gov.  Crans- 
ton and  Deputy  Gov.  Greene  and  Pel  eg  Sandford,  were 
examined  upon  the  several  points  charged  in  the  instruc- 

22.  tions.  The  troublesome  subject  of  oaths  was  then  mi- 
nutely inquired  into.  The  scruples  of  many  in  Rhode 
Island  upon  this  subject  could  never  be  comprehended  by 
the  British  officers.  A  somewhat  similar  idea  of  legality 
pertained  to  the  exact  form  of  an  oath,  as  was  attached 
to  the  possession  of  a  seal  in  those  days.  It  was  an  em- 
blem of  loyalty  as  the  latter  was  of  sovereignty,  and  the 
letter  of  the  law  on  this  point  was  more  insisted  upop 
than  its  spirit.  The  omission  of  it  was  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  complaint  against  Rhode  Island.  This,  and 
the  volunteer  militia  system,  were  two  grand  stumbling- 
blocks  to  an  English  comprehension  of  Rhode  Island 
peculiarities. 

23.  While  they  were  under  consideration  Gov.  Winthrop, 
with  the  Connecticut  commissioners  upon  the  Narragan- 
set  dispute,  arrived.  The  conflicting  clauses  in  the  two 
charters  were  read,  and  also  the  agreement  between  the 
two  agents,  Dr.  Clarke  and  John  Winthrop,  thereupon. 
The  case  was  then  argued  by  the  commissioners  on  each 
side,  and  they  were  advised  to  come  to  a  mutual  agreement. 
This  was  attempted  in  vain.     Bellemont  then  ordered 


25 


EPISCOPAL   CHURCH   MOVEMENT.  549 

them  to  prepare  a  statement  of  their  claims.     This  was  chap 
done  and  presented  the  next  day,  affidavits  were  taken  ^^ 
upon  the  case,  and  the  two  colonies  were  warned  to  send   16  9  9. 
their  agents  to  England   to  lay  the    matter   before  the      |g  ' 
King.     Further  examinations  in  regard  to  piracy  were 
had.    Caleb  and  Josias  Arnold  were  added  to  the  members 
of  the  admiralty  court  as  commissioners   to  collect  evi- 
dence upon  the   charges,  and  the  governor  and   council 
were  requested  to  aid  them  in  the  work. 

The  earliest  movement  in  favor  of  an  Episcopal 
church  in  Ehode  Island  now  assumed  an  organized  form. 
A  number  of  the  people  who  preferred  that  service,  had 
commenced  in  the  early  part  of  this  year  to  hold  public 
worship,  and  now  petitioned  the  Earl  of  Bellemont  to  in- 
tercede with  the  home  government  that  aid  might  be  ex- 
tended to  them  in  support  of  a  settled  minister.  The 
paper  was  signed  by  sixteen  persons,  headed  by  two  of  the 
old  Huguenot  names,  whose  establishment  in  Narraganset 
had  been  abandoned  amid  the  distractions  occasioned  by 
the  contest  for  jurisdiction.  Of  the  whole  number  of 
forty-five  families  who  had  settled  at  Frenchtown,  all  but 
two  had  left  for  New  York,  and  those  two  had  removed 
to  Boston.  But  two  individuals  remained  in  the  colony. 
ThcbC  settled  at  Newport  and  appear  as  the  first  signers 
of  the  petition.  Although  the  Huguenots  differed  essen- 
tially from  the  church  of  England  upon  many  points,  be- 
ing themselves  the  direct  offshoots  of  the  Geneva  school 
of  theology,  their  simple  but  beautiful  ritual  approached 
nearer  co  that  of  the  English  church  than  it  did  to  the 
yet  sim])ler  forms  of  the  Baptist,  or  to  the  strictly  spirit- 
ual communion  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Hence  they 
sympathized  with  the  new  movement,  and  appear  as  its 
leaders.' 

Meeting-houses  were  this  year  built  by  the  Friends  at 
Portsmouth  and  Newport,  the  latter  in  place  of  an  old 

See  Appendix  G.  for  this  interesting  document. 


550  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

one.  shortly  afterwards  taken  down,  which  had  been  erect 
ed  in  the  early  years  of  the  colony. 
16  9  9.  Bellemont   having   finished  his  business,   placed   the 

governors  of  Rhode  Island  and   Connecticut  under  bonds 
of  three  thousand  pounds  each  to  enforce  the  acts  against 

27.  pirates,  and  left  Newport,  escorted  as  before  to  the  ferry. 
He  reached  Seekonk  that  night,  and  arrived  at  Boston  the 

Oct.  next  afternoon.  He  then  wrote  to  Gov.  Cranston,  thank- 
ing him  for  the  hospitalities  he  had  received  at  Newport, 
and  directing  the  arrest  of  Bradish,  a  pirate  who  had  es- 
caped to  Rhode  Island.  An  accurate  copy  of  the  laws  and 
of  the  acts  of  council  of  the  colony  was  required,  a  task  not 
easy  to  perform  in  the  disordered  state  of  the  records.    But 

^-       Gov.  Cranston,  in  his  reply,  promised  it  should  be  done. 

One  more  effort  was  made  in  the  Connecticut  As- 
sembly, by  appointing  a  new  committee,  to  settle  the 
question  with  Rhode  Island,  without  sending  an  agent 
to  England  ;  but  foreseeing  the  futility  of  further  effort 
in  that  way.  Gov.  Winthrop  sent  a  commission  to  Sir 
Heniy  Ashurst  as  agent  of  the  colony,  and  advised  the 
Board  of  Trade  of  his  appointment.     BeUemont  wrote  to 

16.  Gov.  Cranston  not  to  distrain  for  taxes  in  Narraganset 
until  the  dispute  was  settled,  and  also  reproved  his  tardi- 
ness in  not  having  yet  sent  the  laws  and  acts  of  council  as 
required.  Brinley  wrote  that  no  council  records  could  be 
found,  but  that  the  laws  would  be  sent  after  the  As- 
sembly, about  to  meet,  had  put  them  in  proper  shape. 

23  Gov.  Cranston  replied  to  Bellemont,  that  they  could  not 
comply  with  the  order  to  send  an  agent  to  England  unless 
they  raised  a  tax,  and  this  they  could  not  do  if  they  were 
forbidden  to  levy  upon  the  portion  of  the  colony  claimed 
by  Connecticut,  being  nearly  all  the  mainland.  Here  was 
a  difficulty  which  the  General  Assembly,  convened  at 
Warwick,  had  to  meet.  It  was  met,  as  such  hindrances 
often  were,  by  ignoring  it.  A  tax  of  six  hundred  pounds 
had  before  been  assessed,  and  copies  of  the  law,  under  seal, 


12. 


15. 


21. 


25. 


BELLEMONT    DENOUNCES   THE    COLONY.  551 

t 

had  already  been  sent  to  the  several  towns.      This  was  chap 
considered  enough,  and  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  injunc-   ^^ 
tion,  or  command  of  Bellemont.     His  other  orders  were  169  9 
better  respected.     A  committee  to  transcribe    the  laws 
was   appointed,   to   report  at  the  adjourned  session.      In 
compliment  to  the  action  of  the  Connecticut  Assembly,  a 
committee  of  conference  upon  the  matters  in  dispute  was 
apj)ointed  to  meet  in  two  weeks  at  Wiekford.     An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  appoint  an  agent  to  go  to  England, 
but  none  would  accept  it,  and  the  subject  was  laid  over  to 
the  adjournment.     Depositions  in   regard  to  Gillam  and       g 
other  pirates  were  taken  at  this  time,  and  forwarded  to 
England  by  Lord  Bellemont,  with  a  letter  denouncing  the 
government  of  Rhode  Island,  as  "  the  most  irregular  and 
illegal  in  their  administration  that  ever  any  English  gov- 
ernment was."     His  criticisms  were  amply  sustained  by 
the  complaints  constantly  sent  to  him  by  the  admiralty 
commissioners  at  Newport.      Sandford  says  that  any  com-       3 
mission  direct  from  his  Majesty  is  considered  as  an  in- 
fringement of  the  charter  privileges,  and  those  who  take 
them  are  looked  upon  as  enemies  to  the  State. 

The  joint  commission  of  the  two  colonies  met  at  Wick- 
ford.  Their  correspondence  was  brief,  and,  as  was  antici- 
pated on  each  side,  inconclusive.  An  appeal  to  the  King 
was  now  the  last  resort.  Bellemont  wrote  to  the  Board  of  jg. 
Trade  a  full  statement  of  the  case,  and  enclosed  all  the 
documents  relating  thereto.  The  adjourned  session  of  the 
Assembly  was  held  at  Newport,  and  vainly  attempted  to  -^• 
select  an  agent.  Six  nominees  declined.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  a  committee  to  find  an  agent  who  would 
go,  and  to  order  all  things  requisite  to  that  object.  The 
committee  to  revise  and  transcribe  the  laws,  made  a  full 
report,  which  was  received,  and  all  laws  not  included  in 
their  transcri23t  were  repealed. 

At  length  Lord  Bellemont,  having  collected  a  great 
mass  of  evidence  to  support  the  charges  against   Rhode 


29 


552  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Islanctj  made  his  report  to  the  Privy  Council.  It  was  a 
formidable  paper,  presenting  under  twenty-five  distinct 
heads,  an  array  of  testimony  against  B.hode  Island,  which 
we  can  only  wonder  at  this  day  that  the  friendless  colony 
was  enabled  to  resist.  That  she  was  not  utterly  crushed 
beneath  the  cumulative  evidence  of  every  kind  of  irregu- 
larity that  was  hurled  upon  her  by  the  indefatigable  zeal 
and  the  consummate  ability  of  Bellemont,  can  scarcely  be 
accounted  for  by  any  human  agency.  It  is  the  greatest 
marvel  in  the  history  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  She  had  had  many  narrow  escapes,  but  this  was 
the  most  wonderful  of  them  all.'  Immediately  following 
this  rej)ort  he  sent  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade  on  the 
subject  of  piracy,  wherein  he  denounced  Gov.  Cranston 
for  "conniving  at  pirates,  and  making  Rhode  Island  their 
sanctuary." 

Some  people  of  Westerly,  acting  upon  the  prohibition 
issued  by  Bellemont,  refused  at  town  meeting  to  elect  as- 
sessors of  the  tax  laid  by  the  Assembly  for  sending  an  agent 
to  England.  Upon  this  Gov.  Cranston  issued  a  warrant 
for  the  arrest  of  several  persons  who  had  signed  a  protest 
against  the  said  election,  and  appointed  a  special  con- 
2,  stable  with  a  sufficient  force  to  serve  the  warrant.  The 
firmness  of  Cranston  at  this  crisis,  did  more  than  any 
other  one  cause  to  save  the  colony  from  extinction. 

A  fair  copy  of  the  laws  and  acts  of  the  colony  was  at 
last  sent  to  Bellemont,  with  a  letter  explaining  the  causes 
of  delay,  and  deprecating  the  conduct  of  the  commission- 
ers appointed  by  his  Lordship,  as  being  adverse  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  colony.  Capt.  Joseph  Sheffield,  one  of  the 
assistants,  carried  the  papers;  and  that  he  might  serve  as 
a  special  envoy  to  soothe  the  anger  of  the  Earl,  his  cre- 
dentials were  stated  in  the  letter,  requesting  Bellemont  to 
"  discourse  with  the  bearer"  upon  the  state  of  the  coloDy. 

*  The  Original  Report  and  Journal  of  Lord  Bellemont  are  in  Br.  S.  P.  0. 
Proprieties,  vol.  iv.  pp.  565,  573.     See  R.  I.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  385-93. 


22. 


Dec 


22, 


THE    CODE    OF    LAWS    SENT    TO    ENGLAND.  .'553 

The  commissioners  followed  the  next  day,  with  a  letter  chap 
declaring  that  the  copy  of  the  laws  sent  was  neither  com-    x>^^^ 
plete  nor  correct,  and  condemning  the   arrests   made  at   16  9^9 
Westerly,  the  parties  taken  having  been  carried  to  New- 
port jail.      This  act  roused  the   anger  of   Connecticut. 
The  governor  and  council  of  that  colony  empowered  Capt.      25. 
Mason  to  seize  any  Rhode  Island  officer  who  should  at- 
tempt  to  distrain  for  taxes  in  Westerly.      Brinley  also 
wrote  to  Lord   Bellemont  in  regard  to  the  sedition  act, 
which  the  last  Assembly  had  revived,  and  under  which  the 
Westerly  prisoners  were  to  be  tried  ;  and  a  few  days  later      ^^ 
he  again  wrote  in  the  same  strain,  denouncing  the  whole 
code,  and   the  manner  of  its  adoption  by  the  Assembly,    ^ggg 
The   laws  were   sent  over  tO'  the  Board  of  Trade,  with  YToV. 
abundant  annotations  and  denunciations  by  Bellemont,     J^"- 
together  with  the  letters  of  Brinley  upon  the  state  of  the 
government.' 

The  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  caused  frequent  ses- 
sions of  the  General  Assembly.  A  permanent  agent  in 
England  was  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the  colony. 
Mr.  B ronton  had  acted  in  her  behalf  upon  the  Connecti- 
cut dispute,  and  had  since  been  empowered  to  defend  her 
charter;  but  he  was  the  collector  of  Newport,  and  liable 
to  be  sent  home  to  his  post,  a  purpose  that  Bellemont 
was  seeking  to  accomplish.  A  man  was  at  last  found 
both  able  and  willing  to  take  the  responsible  position. 
Capt.  Joseph  Sheffield,  who  had  lately  served  as  envoy  to  Yeh: 
Bellemont,  was  selected  as  the  agent  to  defend  the  char-      16. 

^  The  original  authorities  for  the  events  of  the  year  1699,  above  related, 
are  so  numerous  and  varied  in  the  British  State  Paper  office,  that  the  writer 
deemed  it  best  to  insert  them  all  in  a  single  note  at  the  end.  For  the  local 
reader  these  references  can  hate  no  interest,  but  to  the  historian  who  may- 
wish  to  verify  facts  or  dates  herein  stated,  by  examining  the  archives  in  Lon- 
don, they  will  be  found  of  great  importance  in  the  sa\nng  of  time  and  trouble. 
They  are  in  the  bundles  marked  as  follows :  New  England,  vols.  ix.  and  x. 
Proprieties,  vols.  iii.  iv.  v.  and  xxvi.  America  and  West  Indies,  vol.  379,  and 
New  York,  vol.  ix. 


554  HISTORY    OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,   tered    rights  of   Rhode   Island,  at    the    Court   of   Sainl 
J___,  James.      If  he  should   find,   on   reaching  London,   that 
17  00.   Brenton  had  already  acted  upon  his  late  commission  in 
defence  of  the  charter,  the  two  were  to  be  united*  in  the 
agency  ;   otherwise,   Sheffield  was  to  be  the   sole  agent, 
with  an  annual  salary  of  eighty  pounds,  besides  his  neces- 
sary expenses.     The  Assembly  adjourned  to  New  Year's 
day,  when,  the  only  business  done  was  to  establish,  upon  a 
25      permanent  basis,  a  horse-ferry  between  the  mainland  and 
Conanicut. 

The  Court  of  Trials,  held  the  next  day,  conducted 
26.  with  a  high  hand  against  Pemberton  and  the  other  Wes- 
terly prisoners,  under  the  sedition  act.  The  grand  jury 
io;nored  the  bills.  The  Court  refused  to  receive  the  re- 
turn,  and  adding  three  more  to  the  jury,  sent  them  out  a 
second  time.  Again  they  failed  to  find  indictments.  The 
Court  then  added  six  more  persons  to  the  jury,  and  again 
sent  them  out  to  deliberate,  with  positive  orders  to  find 
true  'bills.  After  several  hours'  consultation,  twelve  of  the 
twenty-one  made  a  return  in  accordance  with  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Court.  This  was  an  exercise  of  jjower  more 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  colony  than  any  they 
were  likely  to  suffer,  even  from  the  will  of  Bellemont;  and 
it  was  followed  up  by  a  verdict  of  guilty,  obtained  by  a 
similar  violence  on  the  part  of  the  Court  towards  the 
petty  jury,  who,  at  first,  were  for  acquitting  the  prisoners.' 
There  was  need  of  haste  in  the  matter,  of  Sheffield's 
^  .J  commission,  for  the  Board  of  Trade,  upon  receipt  of  Lord 
8.  Bellemont's  report,  sent  an  abstract  of  it  to  his  Majesty, 
and  recommended  its  referenoe  to  the  law  officers  of  the 
crown,  "  to  consider  what  method  may  be  most  proper  for 
bringing  the  colony  under  a  better  form  of  government," 
and  that  they  proceed  forthwith. '^ 

The  memorial  of  the   foreman  of  the  grand  jury  at 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  v.  pp.  417-421. 
"  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  xxvi.  p.  184. 


RIOTS  IN  KINGS  PROVINCE.  555 

Newport,  who  was  one  of  the  nine  dissenters  from  the  act  chap 
of  the  majority,  in  finding  a  bill  against  the  Westerly   J___;_ 
prisoners,  was  presented  to  Bellemont.     He  wrote  a  sharp  170  0 
letter  to  Gov.  Cranston,  pronouncing   the   proceedings  in      22. 
the  case  of  Pemberton,  to  be  the  "  most  arbitrary  and  ir- 
regular he  had  ever  heard  of,  next  to  taking  away  a  man's 
life  against  law  ;  "  and  also  rebuking  them  for  sending  an 
armed  force  to  levy  taxes  in  Narraganset.     This  latter 
procedure  was  retaliated  by  Connecticut.     Mallett,    the 
sheriff  of  Rhode  Island,  was  seized,  with  several  of  his 
posse,  by  a  Connecticut  force,  and  taken  to  New  London 
jail,  where  the  others  were  released  on  bail,  but  the  sheriff 
was  detained  for  trial.'   Riots  attended  upon  these  attempts 
to  collect  taxes,  and  the  whple  of  Kings  Province  was  in 
a  state  of  disorganization.     A  Court  of  Inquiry  was  held 
at   Kingstown,  at  which  a  large  number  of  persons  were 
fined  for  resisting  the  officers. 

At  the  general  election,  John  Greene,  who  for  ten  sue-  May 
cessive  years  had  been  elected  deputy  governor,  was 
dropped,  and  ex-Gov.  Walter  Clarke  was  chosen  in  his 
place.  The  ferry  from  Newport  to  Jamestown  was  settled 
upon  similar  terms  with  that  to  the  mainland.  News 
having  arrived  that  Brenton  had  accepted  and  acted  upon 
his  commission  as  general  agent  for  the  colony,  the  ap- 
pointment of  Sheffield  was  revoked.  The  recent  riots  in  4. 
Kingstown  occupied  the  Assembly.  Many  persons  ap- 
peared and  confessed  their  fault.  Some  had  their  fines 
remitted,  and  others  were  bound  over  for  trial  at  the  Sep- 
tember term.  The  seizure  of  the  high  sheriff  by  the  Con- 
necticut government  did  not  impede  the  collection  of  the 
tax.  Another  sheriff  was  appointed,  and  also  special  con- 
stables, with  sufficient  force  to  complete  the  gathering  of 
the  six  hundred  pound  tax  forthwith.  A  new  form  of 
engagement  for  the  dej)uties  was  adopted,  binding  them 
to  allegiance  to  the  King,  and  fealty  to  the  chartered  au- 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  v.  p.  633. 


556  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP,    thorities  of  the  colony.     A  determined  spirit  prevaded  the 

.^.^  proceedings  of  this  Assembly,  such  as  had   not  always 

1700.  been  shown  in  critical  tinies,  but  which  was  essential  in 
Mav 

"     the  final  struggle  for  existence,  upon  which  the  xjolony 

13.  had  now  fairly  entered.  At  the  close  of  the  session,  Gov. 
Cranston,  in  behalf  of  the  Assernbly,  addressed  a  petition 
to  the  King,  imploring  a  continuance  of  the  charter.' 
He  also  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade,^  informing  them 
that  the  late  deputy  governor  had  been  left  out  of  all  of- 
fices of  trust,  at  the  recent  election,  on  account  of  his  ille- 
gally granting  privateer  commissions  :  that  a  more  perfect 
copy  of  the  laws  was  to  be  made  and  sent  under  seal,  and 
that  a  new  form  of  engagement  had  just  been  adopted  to 
meet  the  views  of  the  home  government.  It  was  a  diplo- 
matic letter,  well  drafted  to  aid  the  efforts  of  Brenton  in 
averting  another  quo  loarranto. 
June.  ^^^t  tbe  Earl  of  Bellemont  was  ready  with  a  rejoinder 

22.  sustained  by  documentary  proof  He  wrote  to  the  Board 
that  h£  had  given  up  all  attempt  at  reducing  the  disorders 
in  Khode  Island,  and  forwarded  the  petition  of  Pember- 
ton,  with  other  papers  relating  to  the  seizure  and  arbi- 
trary trial  of  the  Westerly  j)risoners.^  Nor  were  these 
the  only  outrages  committed  in  the  name  of  the  law,  dur- 
ing this  period  of  turmoil  and  excitement.  The  French 
settlement  had  been  broken  up,  but  Dr.  Ayrault  remained 
as  a  practising  physician.  Greenwich  had  extended  its 
limits  to  embrace  the  whole  of  Frenchtown.  It  was 
charged  that  Ayrault  had  fenced  in  certain  highways  laid 

23^  out  through  the  settlement.  A  court  of  inquiry,  com- 
posed of  the  officers  of  Greenwich  and  AVarwick,  was 
held  there  to  decide  upon  the  question;  and,  after  delib- 

^  Original  in  Br.  S.  P.  O.  America  and  West  Indies,  vol.  379.  R.  I.  Col. 
Rec,  iii.  419. 

*  Original  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Proprieties,  vol.  v.  p.  317. 

^  Originals  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  York  papers,  vol.  x.  p.  256,  and  Proprie- 
ties, vol.  V.  p.  413 


INDEPENDENT   LEGISLATION.  557 

erating  a  whole  day,  tlie  jury  rendered  a  verdict. of  guilty  chap. 
against  the  doctor.     That  night  a  mob  attacked  his  house,   J^^^,^ 
carried  off  himself  aud  his  son  Daniel  hy  force,  maltreated  17  0  0. 
his  aged  wife  who  attempted  to  plead  with  them  ;  and 
having  taken  the  two  men  to  where  the  court  was  held, 
compelled  them  to  give  bonds  to  appear  at  the  next  Court 
of  Trials.     The  affidavit  of  Dr.  Ayrault,  with  the  con- 
current testimony  of  John  Fones,  and  others  who  were 
present,  given  soon  afterwards  at  Newport,  and  yet  more 
the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  assailants  in  laying  waste     Aug. 
the  premises,  prove  the  whole  affair  to  have  been  one  of 
lawless  violence,  for  which  no  excuse  can  be  offered.     It 
was  a  phase  of  border  life,  where  law  imposes  l)ut  a  feeble 
restraint  upon  the  cupidity  or  the  passions  of  men.' 

A  special  session  of  the  Greneral  Assembly  was  held  at  29 
Newport.  Acts  were  passed  to  lay  a  tax  upon  pedlars  ; 
to  require  any  man  who  should  marry  an  executrix,  to  give 
bonds  to  perform  the  will  of  the  testator  so  far  as  the  es- 
tate would  permit;  to  provide  for  a  constable's  watch  in 
every  town;  and  "that  where  the  laws  of  this  collony,  or 
custom,  shall  not  reach  or  comprehend  any  matter,  cause,  ^0. 
or  causes,  that  it  shall  be  lawful!  to  put  in  execution  the 
laws  of  England."  This  last  act  forms  a  fitting  conclu- 
sion to  the  legislation  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  contains  a  covert  assertion  of  sovereignty, 
amounting  almost  to  an  act  of  independence.  It  was  an 
extreme  application  of  the  famous  clause  in  the  charter, 
which  conveyed  far  more  than  its  grantors  imagined — that 
the  laws  should  conform  to  those  of  England  as  nearly  as 
possible,  "  considering  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the 
place  and  people  there." 

Sir  Henry  Ashurst,  agent  of  Connecticut,  presented     ^^^ 
to  the  Board  of  Trade  a  memorial  setting  forth  the  claim 
of  that  colony  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Narraganset.     Bren- 
ton  replied  to  it  with  a  counter  memorial  on  the  part  of      17. 

'  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  New  England,  vol.  xiii. 


558  HISTORY   OF    THE    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

CHAP.   Rhode  Island.     Both  papers  state  concisely  the  ffrounds 
J^,-^  of  their  respective  claims.     After   some  delay,  Brenton 

1700-1.  again   called    the   attention  of  the    Board   to   the    sub- 
Feb.     • 

g,  J6ct,  and  requested  an  early  decision,  as  his  busin'ess  re- 
quired him  to  return  to, America.'  But  this  long  dis- 
puted point  was  not  destined  to  be  so  speedily  arranged. 
Another  quarter  of  a  century  was  to  elapse  befbre  the 
rights  of  Rhode  Island  should  receive  their  final- confirma- 
tion by  the  King  in  council. 

An  event  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  people  of 
this   colony  now  occurred.     The    death  of  the   Earl  of 

^  ^^^  Bellemont,  at  New  York,  removed  the  most  formidable 
opponent  to  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  who  had  ever 
ruled  in  New  England.  Unlike  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
Bellemont  could  neither  be  moved  by  flattery  nor  softened 
by  courtesy.  He  acknowledged  in  becoming  terms  the 
civilities  extended  to  him  on  his  visit  to  Newport,  and  in 
the  same  letter  rebuked  the  free  spirit  of  a  people  who 
virtually  set  at  defiance  the  laws  that  he  was  appointed 
to  execute.  Had  his  litis  been  s^jared,  the  ability  with 
which  he  prepared  the  charges  and  evidence  against  this 
colony,  and  the  energy  that  he  displayed  in  pursuing  his 
purposes  to  the  bitter  end,  might  have  given  another  and 
a  fatal  termination  to  a  contest  that  involved  the  colonial 
condition,  and  determined  the  future  fortunes  of  Rhode 
Island. 

'  Originals  in  Br.  S.  P.  0.,  Propncties.  vol.  v.  pp.  67o,  497-631. 


FOUNDING   OF    TKINITY    CHURCH. 


559 


APPENDIX     a. 


CHAP. 
XII. 


APP. 
G. 


FOUNDING  OF  TPJNITY  CHURCH,  NEWPORT. 

(from    BRITISH    STATE    PAPER   OFFICE.  NEW   ENGLAND,  VOL.  IX.) 

T>  his  Excelleucy  Richard,  Eafle  of  Bellemont,  Capt.  Generall  and  Gov  in 
Chiefe  in  and  over  the  provinces  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  York 
and  New  Hampshire  and  the  Territoryes  thereon  depending  in  America, 
and  Vice  Admiral  of  the  same, 

The  humble  Petition  of  the  People  of  the  Church 

of  England  now  resident  in  Rhode  Island, 
Sheweth, 

That  your  Petitioners  and  others  inhabiting  within  this  Island  having 
agreed  and  concluded  to  erect  a  church  for  the  Worship  of  God  according  to 
the  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England  and  tho'  we  are  disposed  and  ready 
to  give  all  the  encouragement  we  possibh'  can  to  a  Pious  and  learned  ^Minister 
to  settle  and  abide  amongst  us,  yet  by  reason  we  are  not  in  a  capacity  to  con- 
tribute to  such  an  Hon'''*  Mentenance  as  may  be  requisite  and  expedient ; 

Your  Petitioners  therefore  humbly  pray  that  your  Lordship  will  be  pleased 
KO  farr  to  favour  our  undertakings  as  to  intercede  with  his  Maj  >  for  his  gra- 
cious letters  to  this  Government,  on  our  behalfe  to  protect  and  encourage  us  aud 
that  some  assistance  towards  the  present  mentenance  of  a  Minister  among  us 
may  be  granted  as  your  Excellency  in  your  great  wisdome  shall  think  most 
meet,  and  that  your  Excellency  will  also  be  pleased  to  write  in  our  behalfe 
and  favour  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  or  to  such 
Ministers  of  state  as  your  Excellency  shall  judge  convenient  in  and  about  the 
premises. 

Aud  your  Petitioners  as  in  duty  bound  will  ever  pray  iSsc*. 
Gabriel  Bernon  W'".  Brinley 

Piere  Ayrould  Isaac  Martindale 

Thomas  Fox  Robert  Gardiner 

George  Guttler  Thos.  Paine 

Will".  Pease  Thos.  xMallett 

Edwin  Carter  Rob'.  Wrightiugton 

Fra.  Pope  Anthy.  Blount 

Richard  Newland  Thomas  LilUbridge 

This  petition  was  delivei-ed  at  Xewport,  26th  Sept.  16'J9,  and  for- 
warded to  the  Board  of  Trade  by  Lord  Bellemont  on  24:th  October. 
It  was  received  and  read  on  5th  -January  following.  In  his  letter  en- 
closing it  to  the  Board,  Bellemont  says.  "  I  send  your  Lordships  the 
netition  of  several  persons  in  Rhode  Island  for  a  Church  of  England 


560  HISTORY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   RHODE   ISLAND. 

Minister  and  a  yearly  settled  maintenance  for  one.  I  hope  yonr  Lord- 
ships will  please  to  patronize  so  good  a  design,  and  will  obtain  his 
Majesty's  allowance  of  a  competent  maintenance  for  such  a  Minister. 
It  will  be  a  means  I  hope  to  reform  the  lives  of  the  People  in  that 
Island,  and  make  good  Christians  of  'em  who  at  present  are  all  in 
darknesse."  The  petition  was  sent  by  the  Board  of  Trade  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  presented  it  to  the  King,  by  whom  it  was  re- 
ferred back  to  the  Board,  April  16,  for  their  opinion  upon  what  was 
proper  to  be  done  in  the  matter.  Other  petitfons  for  promoting  the 
Gospel  among  the  Indians  were  pending  at  the  same  time.  I'rom  these 
movements  originated  the  "  Societj^  for  propagating^  the  Gospel  in 
foreign  parts,"  incorporated  in  1702,  by  whom,  two  years  later,  the 
Rev.  James  Honeyman  was  sent  out  as  a  missionary  to  this  station, 
upon  petition  of  the  wardens  of  Trinity  church  to  the  society  for  aid. 
Meanwhile,  Rev.  Mr.  Lockyer,  who  had  gathered  the  church  early  in 
1(599,  new  style,  served  as  its  rector,  and  the  building  was  completed 
some  time  in  1702. 


BND   OF   VOLUilE  FIBST. 


GENEEAL  INDEX  TO  VOLUME  FIEST. 


Abbott,  Archbishop,  6 

Acorns,  84. 

Acquicineset,  351. 

Acts  of  Trade  and  Navigation,  454,  464,  467,  530, 

535,  538,  544. 
Addresses  of  R.  I.  to  Home  Government,  492-6, 

514.  520,  523,  541. 
Adlara.  Eev.  S.,  108  n. 
Administrators  of  estates,  44.3. 
Admiralty  courts  in  E.  I.,  246,  488,  535,  539,  541. 
Adrianople,  523  n. 
Adultery  punished  by  Indians,  75;  by  Gen.  Asa., 

320. 
Advertisement  of  Narr.  lands,  445,  447,  457. 
Agamenticus.  157  n. 
"  Agawiim,  Simple  Cobbler  of,"  cited,  45.    Town 

of,  370. 
Agents  of  R.  I.  in  England,  345,436,440,447,461, 

463,  493,  526,  545,  553. 
Agreement  between  Clarke  and  "Winthrop,  282, 

296.  297,  351. 
Alarm  established,  132. 
Albanv,  309.  527,  528,  529,  546. 
Albro.  or  Alborough,  Capt.  John,  467,  499,  508. 
Alderman,  an  Indian,  416. 
Als;iers,  437,  463. 

Alien  law  in  M.ass.,  61,  63;  In  E.  I.,  242. 
Alleghany  Mts..  96. 
Allen,  J.ames,  432. 

Almy.  Christopher,  518,  526,  527,  529,  535. 
"Ambition  Anatomized,"  referred  to,  361. 
Anabaptist,  name  how  aiiplied,  151  note. 
Anchor,  for  State  seal,  204. 
Anderson's  "  Hist,  of  Commerce,"  497  n. 
Andros,  Sir  E.,  397,  455,  4S4,  493,  495,498;  his 

administration,  49S-510  ;    reviewed,  514-17; 

new  ccimmission,  508;  fall,  510-14,  520,  558. 
Anecdotes,  18^3  n.,  ISS  n.,  189  n.,  505  n. 
Angel,  or  Augell,  Thomais,  97, 103. 
Anglesea,  island,  47. 
Annawon,  Indian  chiet,  417. 
Annexation  of  VTarwiek  and  Pawtuxetto  Mass., 

131;  of  Plymouth,  524. 
Antinomian  controversy,  47,   51-69  ;  doctrines, 

52-5.  65 ;    party,  54,56,  58 ;  impolitic  course, 

61 ;  trial  of  leaders,  63,  64 ;  disarmed,  64 ;  re- 
view of.  66--9 :  term  how  applied,  151  n. 
"Antiquitates  Americans."  referred  to,  28. 
"Antiquities  of  Connecticut,"  referred  to,  460, 

461,  469,  481,  482,  53-3,  536,  589,  543. 
Apples,  first  in  R.  I.,  99  n.,  137. 
Vol.  I.— 3(j 


Appleton,  Major,  403. 

Apportionment  of  taxes,  205,  271,  272,  276,  813, 
846,  450,  542. 

Apprenticeship,  161. 

Aquedneck  island,  23,  69,  70, 113 ;  purchase  of, 
125 ;  compact,  124 ;  the  settlers  of,  125 ;  two 
governments  at,  135;  united,  143;  election, 
148;  fire,  152:  claimed  by  Plymouth,  159. 
223,  440,  444,  477  ;  proceedings  "against  Gor- 
ton, 167-172;  his  return  to,  189  ;  dissensions 
at,  213,  221;  petition  to  United  Colonies, 
222 ;  usurped  by  Coddington,  238 ;  sends  Dr. 
Clarke  to  Engl.and,  239  ;  courts,  how  held, 
252;  Indians  sent  off,  331  ;  guarded,  407; 
smallpox  at,  523. 

Arbitration  a  basis  of  government,  176 ;  declined 
in  the  Warwick  case,  182. 

Archery  prescribed  by  law,  209. 

Argyle,  Duke  of,  4S1. 

Arlington,  Lord,  315. 

Arminian  party,  6. 

Arms  and  ammunition  ordered,  413. 

Arnold,  William,  100,  102,  104, 107,  111,  174, 176, 
177,  238,  248,  258,  267,  268,  271. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  103,  111,  191,  196,  197,  267,  327, 
345,  380;  Asst,  252,  274;  Pres.,  263,  278,  28-3, 
284;  Gov..  295,  306.  837,  426,  441 ;  death,  443. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  Jr.,  254,  518. 

Arnold,  Stephen,  258. 

Arnold,  Richard,  499,  508. 

Arnold,  Caleb,  549. 

Arnold,  Josias,  549. 

Arnold,  Capt.,  of  Portsmouth,  520. 

Arnold,  Capt.  Joseph,  520. 

Arran,  Earl  of,  479,  529,  538. 

Arrests  and  reprisals,  277,  282,  461. 

Ashurst,  Sir  Henry,  515,  537,  550,  557. 

Aspinwall,  William,  63,  124;  Sec,  127, 131, 133 
n. ;  Asst,  185. 

Assassination,  attempt  at,  469. 

Assembly  of  E.  I.    See  General  Assembly. 

Assessors  of  taxes,  531. 

Assistants,  title  of,  adopted,  143  ;  how  to  be  cho- 
sen, 295 ;  duties  and  powers  of,  211,  301, 302, 
321,  327. 

Association,  Warren  Baptist,  108  n.,  125. 

Associations  of  loyalty,  532,  534. 

Astronomy,  Indian,  82. 

Atheist,  trial  of  an  alleged,  183  n. 

Atherton,  Humphrey,  ISO,  197, 199, 231, 272, 879. 

Atherton  company  and  purchase,  272,  275,  282 
283,  297,  299,  302,  308,  814,  315,  316,  841,  865; 
378-386,  427,  440,  445,  447,  463,  466,  474,  483 
501,  605,  507,  530,  534 


562 


GENEEAL   INDEX   TO    VOLUME   FIEST. 


Attleboro'  Gore,  93  n. 

Attorncvs,  336. 

Awarile,"  Richard,  183. 

Awasliouks,  Squaw  Sachem  of  Seaconnet,  395, 

414. 
Ayrault,  Dr.  Pierre,  498,  556,  559. 
Ayrault,  Daniel,  557. 


B 

Babcock,  James.  314,  344,  350. 

Babcock,  Job,  461. 

Backus,  Hist,  of  Baptists,  referred  to,  24,  49, 
41.3. 

Bailey,  Kicliard,  .34.3,  344.  42",  44T. 
jaker  appointed,  a  public,  129. 

Balstone,  William,  64,  124,  127,  128,  159,  162, 
233.  Treas.  143.  Asst.  186,  148,  219,  261, 
263.  274,  295. 

Bancroft,  .\rchblshop,  5. 

Bancroft,  lion.  tJeo..  47.  Hist,  of  IT.  8.  r(»ferred 
to.  '.t(t.  IfJ  n,.  lN)n.,  211,  371,372,  374,384,518. 

Banishment  abolished,  232. 

Bankrupt  law,  442. 

Baptist  Church,  First,  107,  discussion  as  to  pri- 
ority, liiSn.,  139  n.,  140  n. 

Baptists  persecuted  in  Mass.,  234-5;  most  nu- 
merous in  U.  I.,  490. 

Barberry  bushes,  465-6. 

Barbadoes,  269,  329,  859,  489,  543. 

Barker,  James,  295,  344;  Dep.  Gov.,  449. 

Barrington,  69. 

Barrv,  JoJin  8.,  185n. 

Bartiett.  Hon.  John  R.  325,  528. 

Barton,  Rufus,  217,  218. 

Bass,  SO ;  ponds.  507. 

Baths,  Indian  sweating,  76. 

Battle  at  Mystic,  98 ;  New  Haven,  95 ;  Narr. 
and  Moheg.,  116,-196;  Fogland  ferry,  397; 
Pocasset,  399;  Hadley,  400,  413;  Great 
swamp  tight,  403-6 ;  Warwick,  415;  Naval, 
521. 

Baxter,  Capt.  George,  248,  249,  284,  310. 

P..a<<.ns,  381,  521. 

V,(ads,  Indian,  81. 

Bc-an>,  so.  S4. 

Bears,  78. 

Beaver,  81,  204,  227. 

Beddar,  Thomas,  133. 

Beers,  Capt.,  400. 

}5eggars,  none  in  R.  I.,  490. 

Belknap,  Hist,  of  New  Hamp.,  66,  470. 

Bell  provided,  4.59,  .'J24. 

Bellemont,  Earl  of,  624,  531,  683,  536,  539,  541- 
5.56 ;  death,  558. 

Benedict,  Rev.  David,  Hist,  of  Baptists,  referred 
to,  107. 

Bentlcy's  Hist,  of  Salem,  referred  to,  21,  22,  26. 

Bermuda  Islands,  492. 

Bernon,  Gabriel,  5.59. 

Berton,  P.,  497. 

Bewett,  Hugh,  229,  240,  246  ;  tried  for  treason, 
243. 

Bijiotry,  147  n.,  218  n. 

Bill  of'Riirhts.  L'dd,  207, 

Birth.s  the  first  in  R.  I,,  106,  107,  490. 

Blackbirds,  so,  .W7. 

Blackstone,  William,  16,  72,98-9  n.,  107,261,  327, 
.386 ;  death,  869. 

Blathwayt,  Secretary,  461,  477. 

Block,  Adrian,  7o  n. 

Block  Island,  73,  87,  88,  89. 801,  308,  804,  306,  807, 
317,  821,  842,  364,  521,  522,  528. 

Blount,  Anthony,  559. 


Board  of  Tr.ide,  replies  to  the,  488-491;   tltl« 

of  the,  629  n. 
Boats  libelled,  181, 133 n. 
Borden,  Robert.  245. 
Borden,  John,  394. 

Borden,  or  Burden,  Rich.ird,  250,  252,  255. 
Pxissnet,  intolerance  of,  45. 
Boston.  9.  21,  60,  68,  SS,  89,  92,  95,  98,  117,  18.3, 

ls7,  193,  197,  198,  264,  265,  269,  273,  277,  278, 

8(19,  457,  488,  49S,  500,  511,  518,  516,  522,  525. 

527,  536,  545,  549. 
Boston  Neck,  272,  458. 
Boundary  of  R.  I.  defined,  295. 
Boundarv  disputes,  Western,  295,  304,  .808.  810, 

812,  3.33,  335,  387,.841,  343-8,  37S-880r423-7 

440-4.58,  460-2,  486,  505,  525,  530,  534,  542-5, 

548,  551. 
Boundary  disputes,  Eastern,  808,  312.  315,  440, 

444,  527,  529,  581,  585.     Northern,  531. 
Boundary  disputes,  Prov.  and  Pawtuset,  429- 

438 ;  Ports,  and  Npt.,  47S. 
Bountv  on  wolves  and  fo.xes,  164,  161,  534. 
.rBiadfonl,  Gov.,  22,  232. 
Bradford.  Major,  408. 
Bnulish,  a  pirate,  546,  550. 
Bradshaw.  John,  23S. 
Bradstreet,  Gov.  Siaion,  186,  445,  511,  525. 
Braintree,  52,  55. 

Breda,  Declaration  of,  293  n.,  319,  479. 
Brenton,  William,  128,  312.  380;  Elder,  131, 1.32 ; 

Dep.  Gov.,  14.3,  147,  159,  160,  267,  29.5,  306; 

Pres.,  274;  Gov.,  327,  856. 
Brenton,  Jahleel,  530,  537,  539,  542,  543,  544, 545, 

547,  553-8. 
Brewster,  Elder,  24. 
Brewster,  M..  265. 
Briberv,  888-5,  469. 
Bri^r^es,  John,  188,  153. 
Brinlev,  Francis,  467,  483,502,  503,  517,  547,  550, 

.5.5.3. 
Brinley,  William.  .559. 
Bristol,  28,  388,  478,  .501,  535. 
British  State  Paper  Otlice  Documents,  referred 

to,  S,  195.  2S0,  297,  305,  .300,  310,  314,  315, 

319,  328,  824,  373,  375,  877.  878,  398,  410,  418, 

4;i3,  43.5,  436,  441,  445,  446.  447,  451,  4.52,  458, 

456,  458,  460-4,  466,  469,  471-4,  480,  481,  483, 

484,  493-6,  498,  .5lil-7,  509,  510,  511,  513,  514, 

615,  517,  .520,  522,  523,  524,  528,  529,  535,  586, 

588,  539,  541-4,  547,  552-8. 
Broadhead,  J.  R.,  Hist,  of  New  York  referred 

to,  1.55  n. 
Brookfield  burnt,  399,  413. 
Brown,  Chad,  108, 181. 
.  -Brown,  John,  of  Plymouth,  159, 160,  161,  191. 
Brown,  John  Carter,  280  n. 
Browne,  Nichola,s,  133. 
Browne,  John,  482. 

Browne,  the  two  of  Salem  sent  back,  10,  19. 
BrowM.II,  Thc.nias,  204. 
r.illL'ar.  Kicliard.  201,  274,  273. 
r.ulkelcv,  I'lt.r,  446,  452,  453. 
lUill.   llenrv,   124,  127,  128,  131,  132,  144,  224; 

Gov.,-4S0,  518. 
Hull,  ('apt.  Thom.is,  of  Conn.,  504. 
]'.iill,  "Memoirs  of  B.  I."  referred  to,  124,  186 

149. 
i;ullocke,  Erasmus,  183. 
Burdett,  Robert,  277,  281. 
Burgbiry,  law  of,  207  ;  punished,  851. 
Burials,  Indian,  77;  number  of,  490. 
Burning  of  Fort  Mystic,  94. 
Burnyeat,  Quaker  preacher,  860-2. 
Burrwooil,  Thomas,  141. 
Byfleld,  Nathaniel,  478,  503,  637. 


GENERAL    INDEX    TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


563 


G 

Cases  for  criminals,  ordered,  257,  267,  318,  470. 

CallondiT.  Itev.  John,  century  sermon  referred 
to,  r2.5.  140,  44S,  4T5,  501. 

Calvorlv,  Edmund,  311,  317,  338. 

C.ilvin,"John,  2,  67,  270. 

Calvinism  in  France.  496. 

Cambridge,  60,  61,  265,  474;  County  of,  306,471 ; 
University,  47. 

Canada,  522,  527. 

Cannibals,  73. 

Canoes,  Indian,  80. 

Canonchet,  Sachem,  401 ;  death,  410 ;  character, 
411. 

Canonicus,  Sachem,  23,  24.  70,  74,  77,  88,  90,  92, 
99,  105,  lis,  158,  190,  276,  391,  4.30 ;  death, 
211 ;  ch.iracter,  213. 

Cape  Cod,  69. 

Captures  by  R.  I.  privateers,  247,  248,  249. 

Carder,  Richard.  124,  127;  disfranchised,  153, 
167 ;  .at  Warwick,  176 ;  sentence,  187. 

Carpenter,  William,  100,  102,  107,  111,  258,  267, 
.3.31. 

Carr.  Caleb,  276,  344,  449;  Gov.,  530;  death, 
532 

Carr,  Sir  Robert,  305,  309,  313,  324,  825, 439,  529. 

Carre,  Rev.  Ezekiel,  497. 

Carter,  Edwin,  .559. 

Cartwrisht,  Col.  George,  805,  323,  324,  827. 

Caswell,^  Alexis,  D.  D.,  108  n. 

Catopeci,  Sachem,  460. 

Catshamekin,  Sachem,  88. 

Ca\alry  corps,  330,  332,  468. 

Cawjaniquante,  Sachem.  431. 

Censures  passed,  35S,  365. 

Census  of  Newport,  142 ;  of  Aquedneck,  410. 

Challenge,  Indian,  75. 

Chalmers'  "Pohtical  Annals,"  298,  811,  871-8, 
501. 

Champolion.  1.34  n. 

Charles  I..  10,  27,  172, 190,  228,  505. 

Charles  II.,  265,  274,  275,  280,  284.  290,  29-3,  319, 
362,  464 ;  death,  479. 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  9,  14,  95,  187,  183 ;  K.  I., 
155  n. 

Ch.arter,  Parliamentary,  obtained,  114;  first 
movement  for,  141 ;  Committee  to  obtain. 
154:  nature  of,  200;  engagement  to,  202; 
confirmed  by  Cromwell,  255:  expiration,  2S.5. 

Charter,  Roy.al,  reception  of,  284;  its  chief 
points,  290-5 ;  how  kept,  357, 450 ;  suspend- 
ed, 486;  concealed,  506;  resumed,  51 2,  518. 

Chtirter,  the  Narraganset,  118-120,  383;  of  Con- 
necticut, 281. 

Charters  granted  to  towns,  226. 

Charter  House,  47. 

Clioesechamut,  son  of  Pumham,  324. 

ClK-hii.-ford.  408 

Chestnuts.  S4. 

Chibacuwese,  see  Prudence  I. 

Chuff,  an  Indian,  419. 

Church,  Col.  Benjamin,  895,  896,  897,  403.  404, 
40.5.  414-17,  420,  501,  519. 

Church,  Thomas,  .398  n. 

Churches,  Puritan,  how  constituted,  58  n.;  first 
Baptist,  107 :  priority  of,  lOS  n.,  1-39  n. ;  at 
Aquedneck,  139 ;    schism,  151,  152. 

Clams,  81,  85. 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  284.  314,  328. 

Clarke.  John.  69,  72.  124,  126,  1-32,  140,  141, 151, 
152,  154,  226,  227,  229,  23=3,  312,  315,  .321,  .323, 
329.  *36,  338.  345,  352,  354,  358,  367,  514; 
persecuted  bv  Mass.,  234.  235 ;  affent  in 
England,  238,'  239,  252,  264,  26S,  273,  275, 


276,  280,  284,  290,  379-386;  return,  309,  810 
revises  laws,  311,  .330;  his  character  defend 
ed,  298-301,  371-8;  Dep.  Gov.,  337,  350; 
death,  412. 

Clarke,  Walter.  499,  500,  506,  508,  512,  517,  518, 
539,  540,  548 ;  Dep.  Gov.,  41.3,  454,  459,  465, 
467,  470,  478,  480,  555 ;  Gov.,  413,  483,  5;32, 
533. 

Clarke,  Joseph,  267,  277,  295,  461,  464. 

Clarke,  Captain,  217. 

Clarke,  William,  409. 

Clarke,  or  Clerke,  Jeremy,  132,  143,  203,  219 ; 
Pres.  regent,  221,  222. 

Clawson,  John,  curse  of,  465. 

Clifton,  llope,  273. 

Coasters  Harbor  island,  136 ;  bought.  254. 

Coddington,  William,  23,  60,  63,  69,  124,  126, 127, 
1-32,  203,  221,  254,  413,  475;  Judge,  70;  deed 
of  Aquedneck,  125 ;  Gov.  of  Aquedneck, 
143,147,151,1.52,160,172;  Pres.,  219;  his 
designs,  222,  223;  goes  to  England,  225; 
usurps  govt.,  237-8;  power  revoked,  242; 
retains  the  records,  246;  submits  to  R.  I., 
2.59 ;  becomes  a  Quaker,  320 ;  Dep.  Gov., 
366;  Gov.,  367,  369,  447;  death,  448. 

Coddinston.  William,  (the  son.)  471,  474,  480 ; 
Gov.,  470,  478. 

Coddington,  Xathaniel,  539,  547. 

C-odoof  16«,  206-210. 

Coggeshall,  John,  6:i,  124,  127,  128, 1-31, 1-32, 143, 
"  152,  245,  250.  261,  295,  306,  4U,  442,  478,  499, 
508;  First  Pres.,  202;  Dep.  Gov.,  4.S3,  512. 

Coggeshall,  Joshua,  341. 

Coincidences,  293  n.,  417. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  47. 

Colbert,  Minister  of  France,  496. 

Cold,  intense,  406. 

Cole,  Robert,  100,  107,  111. 

Cole,  John,  347,  468. 

Collen,  Mr.,  48.  • 

Colors  of  Xew  England,  496. 

Colson's  petition,  448. 

Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  117, 1.59, 
17S,  191,  196,  19S,  199,  222,  223,  224,  229,  232, 
2-38,  239,  249,  253,  268,  272,  275,  276,  281,  -309, 
8^39,  400. 

Commissioners,  Roval,  805,  314-17,  322,  828, 
469,  471,  472,  473'. 

Commissioners  on  boundaries,  271,  315,  343,  348, 
350,  352,  357,  542,  54S,  .551. 

Commissions  granted  bj'  R.  I.,  246,  250. 

Committees,  of  six,  under  first  ch.arter,  203,  210, 
219,229;  introduced  into  Gen.  Assy.,  260 ; 
of  the  Whole,  533. 

Common  Law  adopted,  206. 

Compact,  Pilsrim,  12  n. ;  Pro^-ldence,  103 ; 
Aquedneck,  124,  133-4;  Warwick,  216. 

Conanicut  island,  288,  254,  415,  449,  451,  546; 
Furry,  554. 

Conant,  Roger,  9. 

Conference,  Hampton  Court,  5;  of  clergy,  55; 
proposed,  859. 

Conformists,  2,  3. 

Confederacy,  New  England,  115,  156,  158,  340. 

Confiscations,  349,  355,  358. 

Connecticut,  196,  224:  Indians  in,  73;  river,  87. 
89,95;  settled,  93;  claims  Narrt.,  281,  2s2, 
295-301,  305,  308,  310,  312,  314.  319,  335, 
313-8,  351,  353,  355,  357,  366,  368,  423,  424, 
440,  455-S,  460,  461 ;  decisions  in  favor  of, 
474,  534;  claim  rejected,  505;  further  claims 
on  R.  I.,  545;  attempts  to  adjust,  550;  repri- 
sals, 5.5.3,  5.55;  quo  warranto,  481,  493;  An 
dros  usurps  govt,  of,  504 ;  resumes  charter 
512 ;  militia  troubles,  524,  520. 

Connecticut,  Colonial  Records  referred  to,  281« 
305,  310,  333,  334,  335,  368,  425. 


564 


GENERAL   INDEX   TO   VOLUME   FIRST. 


Conspiracy  against  Clarke  exposed,  298-301, 
3S3-6. 

Constables,  duties  of,  131 ;   how  chosen,  466, 509. 

Constructive  felonies  avoided,  20fik. 

Convention  called,  232. 

Conwyl  Cayo,  4S,  50. 

Cooke,  Capt,  180. 

Cooke,  John,  204. 

Cope,  Edward,  103. 

Cormorants,  80. 

Corn,  80,  84 ;  scarcity  of,  142  ;  price,  153. 

Coroner's  inquest,  846. 

Cotton,  Eev.  John,  22,  26,  33,  52,  53,  55,  56,  58, 
59,  62,  65,  6S,  164,  183, 18S,  235. 

Council  of  State,  237,  238,  242-6,  258. 

Council,  General,  of  E.  I.,  210,  271 ;  of  Andros, 
500. 

Council,  Indian,  83 ;  houses  for,  86. 

Council  of  K.  I.,  302;  Gov.  and,  330,338,844, 
346,  852,  359 ;  of  war,  352. 

Courses  and  distances  not  understood,  381,  382. 

Court-houses  to  bo  built,  507,  524. 

Courts,  proceediniis  of  in  Mass.,  14,  16,  17,20,22, 
27.  28.  29.  30,  34,  35.  37,  57,  59,  60,  61,  63,  64, 
111,  127,  147,  176  177,  17S,  181,  182,  186,  187, 
191,  193,  196,  217,  226,  231,  2-32,  2=33,  238,  247, 
258,  267.  268,  273,  277,  283,  309. 

Courts  in  R.  I.  orsranized,  135,  138,  139;  first 
of  election  at  ><'pt.,  143 ;  various  kinds  of, 
144;  ,gener.al,  ut  Aquedneck,  146,  152,  158; 
of  the  Colony,  203 ;  of  election,  trials,  and 
appeal,  204,  210,  227,  256,  270,  460;  of  com- 
missioners, 219,  226;  styled  General  Assem- 
bly, 230;  of  Justices,  258;  under  roval  char- 
ter, 302,  820,  829,  488;  to  be  paid." 454;  re- 
visory power  of  Gen.  Ass.,  448,  459  ;  under 
Andros,  503,504,  506,507,509,510;  tyran- 
ny, 554. 

Courts-martial,  442,  §24.   ^ 

Coventry,  176. 

Coweset',  160,  427.    See  Greenwich. 

Cowtantowit,  Indian  deity,  78. 

Cox,  Dr..  restores  the  Litursv,  2. 

Crandall,  John,  234,  235,  333;"350,  351. 

Cranfleld,  Gov.  Edward,  469,  470-3,  484. 

Cranston,  John,  260,  252,  .303,  309,  815,  401 ;  Dep. 
Gov..  356,  361,  413,  426,  441 ;  Gov.,  449,  454 ; 
death,  459. 

Cranston,  Samuel,  Gov.,  540,  547,  54^  550,  552, 

Cromweil,  Oliver,  237,  249,  250,  252,  255,  256, 268, 

274. 
Cromwell,  Richard,,  271,  273. 
Cross  in  the  colors,  cut  out,  29. 
Crowne,  John,  452,  458. 
Crows,  80. 

Cud  worth,  James,  434. 
Culpeper,  Lord,  464,  466,  479,  507. 
Cumberland,  98  n. 
Currants,  84. 
Curse  of  Clawson,  465. 
Custom-house  established,  465,  467. 
Cutler,  a  pirate,  543. 
Guttler,  George,  559. 


D 


D.avia,  James,  188. 

Davis  John,  196. 

DavoU,  Capt,  520. 

Dean,  Richard,  829,  345,  413  n. 

Dean.  Thomas,  463. 

Deane,  Charles,  185  n. 

Deaths  of  Governors,  440,  441,  532. 

Debt,  law  of,  208. 

Debtor,  absconding,  130. 


DecLaration  of  Breda,  293  n.,  319,  479;  oi  Indnl 

gcnce,  502. 
Decorum  in  court,  220,  257. 
Dedford,  Greenwich  »o  called,  485. 
Dedbam,  217. 

Deeds  of  Prov.,  99-101 ;  brevity  of  old,  12L 
Deer,  73,  79,  85,  154,  159,  161. 
Deerfield,  400. 

Degree  of  M.  D.  conferred  by  Gen.  Assy.,  803. 
Deist,  trial  of  an  alleged,  183  n. 
Delaware  •  Bay,  69 ;  language,  86  ;  Castle,  809  ; 

Colony,  481. 
Delegated  power,  jealousy  of,  109, 131,  204,  206. 
Delft  Haven,  T.  •*• 

Demetrius  of  Ephesus,  183. 
Democracy  at  Prov.,  102 ;   given  up,  108  ;   at 

Aquedneck,  148  ;  declared.  205,  2o7. 
Denison,  Capt.  George,  264,. 410,  411,  425,  434. 
Deputies,  House  of,  295;  to  take  engagement, 

365. 
Derogatory  passages  repealed,  342. 
"  Desire,"  the,  a  vessel,  248.  ' 
Despotic  i^pirit  of  the  Puritans,  33. 
De.xter,  Gregory,  252,  434  ;  Pres.,  245. 
Dice,  Indian,  79, 
Digest  of  Laws,  4.59,  483. 
Dinners  provided  by  the  Colony,  356. 
Disarming  the  Anlinomians,  64;  the  Indians, 

330. 
Disfranchisement   of   Salem    deputies,  34 ;  at 

Aquedneck,  153 ;  by  Gen  Assy.,  247. 
Disposers  at  Prov.,  108, 109, 174. 
Divorce,  Indian,  76;  prohibited,  232;  granted, 

320,  365,  470 ;  law  of,  483. 
Dogmas,  dangerous,  254,  202. 
Dongan,  Gov.  of  N.  Y.,  509. 
Dorchester,  187. 
Doutch,  Osamoud,  131. 
Dower.  Indian,  76. 
Downing,  George,  464  n. 
Drake's"  Book  of  the  Indians,"  referred  to,  887, 

358,  3S9,  390,  417. 
Drunkenness,  129, 141,  366. 
Ducks,  wild,  SO. 
Dudley,  Joseph,  398  n.,  469 ;  Prea.  of  New  Eng., 

482-5,  494 ;  Chief  Justice,  498,  511,  512. 
Dudley,  Gov.  Thomas,  46, 147  n.,  186. 
Dummer,  Richard,  60.  128. 
Durfee,  Job,  quoted,  96,  126,  449. 
Dutch,  the,  159,  240;  trade,  155;  disturbance  at 

Warwick,  241 ;  war,  241,  245,  246,  824 ;  ves- 
sels taken,  249,  267  ;  surrender,  809  ;  take 

N.  Y.,  366;  invade  England,  510. 
Dutch  island,  254,  451. 
Duties,  custom,  204,  534. 
Dyre,  William.  124,  127,  182,  139,  :  48,  172,  208, 

220,  229,  242,  243,  246,  309,  317. 
Dyre,  Mary,  265,  273. 


E 


Ear-maj-ks,  158. 

Earle,  Ralph,  138. 

Easton,  Nicholas,  128, 1.30, 131, 182, 186, 141,  143, 

148,  151,  152,  153,  170,  171,  222,  246,  820,  326; 

Pres.,  229,  250 ;  Dep.  Gov.,  342 ;  Gov.,  327, 356, 

857,  366,  369  ;  de.-ith,  370. 
Easton,  Peter,  180,  136,  .356,  868. 
Easton,  John,  LSO,  186,  245,  261,  274,306,341,356 

542,  54S ;   his  narrative,  402  ;    Dep.   Gov., 

868;  Gov.,  519,525,530, 
Eaton,  Gov.  of  New  Haven,  147. 
"  Ecclesiastical  Hist,  of  Mass.,"  quoted,  183  n., 

186. 
Echard's  "  Hist,  "f  England,"  referred  to,  293. 
Eddy,  Judge,  135  n.,  167. 


GENERAL    INDEX    TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


565 


Erten  of  America.  72. 
Edmonds,  Capt..  416. 
Edmundson,  William.  360-362,  424  a. 
Education,  provision  for,  145,  2S2. 
Edward  VI.,  2. 
Edwards,  Kev.,  45;  Mr.,  383. 
Effinsham,  Gov.  of  Va.,  515. 
Egyptian  hieroslvphics,  134  n. 
ElVlors  at  Ports.,  131  ;  title  abolished,  143. 
Eldiedge,  Samuel,  347. 
Election  davs  appointed,  252,  295. 
Elections  at  Pocasset.  131,  134,  185;  at  >ewport, 
14=3,  14S,  153;  Colonial,  202,  203,  219,  226,  229, 
240  2.511  2.52.2.55.201,263,267.271,  2(4,  2(6, 
278  2S2,  306,  317,  327,  330,  334,  337,  342,  350, 
356,  357,  366,  367,  369,  413,  426,  441,  454,  459, 
465,  467,  470,  47S,  4S0,  4S3,  518,  519,  528,  530, 
532,  540,  555. 
Eliot,  John,  324,  395,  396. 
Elizabeth,  reiprn  of  Queen,  2-5. 
Elliott,  Charles  W.,  185  n. 
Eloquence.  Indian,  SJ.  394. 
Elton,  Komeo,  1).  D..  47,  50.  475  n. 
Embassies,  Pequot.89;  W'ilUams  to  >arrts.,  91; 
Mass.  to  same,  88,  153,  196,  197,  199,  224,  243, 
398 ;  to  E.  I.,  217.  ^    „^    ^„ 

Endicott,  Gov.  John,  9,  10,  14,  19,  20,  21,  26,  29, 

34,  46,  BS,  89,  234,  260,  269,  303,  809. 

Encaf'enwnt,  form  of,  148;  to  the  charter,  202 ; 

■^  slate,  to  its  officers,  205;  of  town  councils, 

228  ;  to  the  commonwealth,  245 ;  changes  in, 

317,  318,  326,  420 ;  of  Deputies,  365,  366,  428, 

England  in  1643, 113. 

Ephesus,  shrines  of;  183. 

Epidemic,  424. 

Episcopacv  abolished.  237 ;  hatred  to  Cromwell, 

274;  i'ntroduced  by  Andros,  49S;   in  K.  I., 

549  ,559 
Errors  of  Grahame  and  Chalmers,  370-378. 
Esquimaux,  86. 
Excise  of  liquors,  368,  483,  503. 
Executions,  347,  351. 

Executors  appointed  by  town  councils,  209,  448. 
Exemption  act,  866,  415.  423. 
Exports  of  K.  I.,  142,  489. 


Fairfield,  John,  276. 
Fairfield.  249,  505. 
Famine,  19. 

Fast  days  in  Mass.,  59,  264,  402. 
Feasts,  "Indian.  79. 
■  Fellow  Commoners,  49. 
Felt,  Joseph  B.,  185  n. 
Fenner,  Arthur,  263.  ml.  :332,  334,  342,  358,  414, 

423,  425.  432.  4:}4.  4:35.  473. 
Ferries  establishe<l.  146,  554,  555. 
Field.  John,  103,  254. 
Field.  Thomas,  434. 
Field,  William,  181,  229,  267,  2T4,  295. 
Fines,  258,  261,  275,  329,  865. 
Fire,  152;  Act  to  prevent,  506,  509. 
Firearms  first  used  by  Indians.  95  ;  supplied  to 
them,  156;  forbid<ien  to,  204;  Act  repealed, 
48;3. 
"Firebrand  Discovered,"'  referred  to,  332. 
Fisher's  island,  521. 

Fishins,  79  ;  declared  free,  143;  protected,  507. 
Fitz-Winthrop,  John,  469. 
Flag  of  New  England,  496. 
Fleets,  Indian,  80. 

Fletcher,  Gov.  of  N.  T.,  524,  526,  531-533. 
Floridian  langu.age,  86. 
Flounders.  Thomas,  346-549. 


Foanes,  or  Fones,  John,  468,  472,  4S4,  485,  49T, 

520,  557. 
Football,  79. 

Force  of  R.  I.  militia,  441,  520. 
Foreigners,  regulations,  204,  2.51. 
Fornication  permitted  by  Indians,  to. 
Fort  James,  362.  36:3. 
Fortifications  at  Boston,  32. 
Foster,  Hon.  Theodore,  466  n.,  505  n. 
Fowling,  79. 

Fox,  George,  355,  359-362. 
Fox,  Thomas,  559. 
Fox  Point,  or  Hill,  40,  431. 
Fox  Island.  272. 
Foxes,  78, 154. 
Frankfort,  church  at,  2. 

Freeborne,  William,  124,  127,  135.         ., .,      . 
Freedom  of  Conscience,  see  Religious  Liberty. 

Freemen  admitted  in  Mass.,  16;  at  Aquednecfe, 
127,  128;  disfranchised,  153;  nature  and 
number  of,  256;  how  admitted,  327,  349, 
453. 

Friends,  Society  of,  see  Quakers. 

French,  vessels"  captured,  247 ;  annoyances,  494 ; 
intrigues.  509  ;  privateers,  520,  521,  522,  523. 

Frenchtown.  .549,  556. 

Frincke,  John,  344. 

Frontenac,  Count,  522. 

Frv,  Thomas,  424. 

Fugitives  to  be  returned,  250,  346, 

Funeral  rites,  Indian,  77. 

Fur  trade,  81. 

Furniture,  Indian,  85,  86. 


G 


Gallup,  John,  88. 
Gambling,  Indian,  79. 
Gammeir.  AVilliam,  108  n.,  475  n. 
Gardiner,  Lyon,  89,  91,  95. 
Gardiner,  Robert,  559. 
Gardner,  :Mrs.,  of  Npt.,  269. 
Garret,  Hermon,  8:3:3. 
Garrison  house,  Bull's,  403. 

Sene'rarAssembly,  201-211.  217,  219  220  225, 
2^>6  2->9  2:30  232  240,  242.  243,  244, '»),  2ol, 
257,  259!  263^  270,  271,  272, 274,  278,  2S1,  282, 
283  301  306  310,  315,  317.  320,  321,  323,  326, 
327  328  380,  3:32,  334,  336.  :3;37,  340,  341,  34o, 
347  34S  849,  350-7,  364,  366-9,  401,  409,  413, 
414  493  426-8,  441,  448,  449,45-3,  454,455, 
45L  459,  464,  466,  470,  471,  478,  479  4S0,  482, 
483,  486,  488,  518,  519,  522.  526,  o28,  533-6, 
539  541-5,  547,  550,  551,  557;  the  first,  201- 
2li'-  modified,  219,  rules  and  orders  of,  220; 
powers  of,  229,  320,  321,  354,  448,459,470; 
name  first  given,  2:30  ;  two  separate  Asseni- 
blies  244;  division  of  Houses  prijposed, 
327  ; 'and  efi'ected,  533 ;  to  be  paid,  828,  454; 
technical  sessions,  453,  454 ;  dissolved,  4s8; 
resumed,  518. 

"  Geological  Survey  of  R.  I."  referred  to,  226  n. 

George.  Capt,  511. 

Geiaerd,  the  Dutchman,  241. 

Gibbons,  Major  Edward,  197. 

Gillam.  a  pirate,  547,  551. 

Goats,  15:3. 

Goat  Island,  254. 

Godfrey,  Capt.  John,  .521. 

Gofi'e,  or  Geofl"e,  John,  133. 

Goffe.  the  Regicide,  418. 

Gookin.  Daniel.  278.  844.       ^  ^     ^„  .. 

■■  Gookin"s  Indians,"  referred  to,  73,  T4. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinand,  7. 156. 


566 


GENERAL   INDEX   TO   VOLUME   FIRST. 


Gorton,  Samuel,  110,  227,  240.  248,  258,  272,  342, 
389,  514;  purchase  of  Warwick.  112,  116, 
176;  at  Aquedueck,  133,  160,  161,  165-173; 
abuse  of,  163;  at  Plymouth,  164;  whipped, 
167,172;  his  views" of  govt.,  169,  194;  in- 
dictment, 170-2 ;  at  Prov.,  172-4 ;  his  politi- 
cal character,  173;  at  Pawtuxet,  174-5;  pro- 
ceedinprs  against,  by  Mass..  177-189;  goes  to 
England,  190;  result  of  his  mission,  193, 
215;  return,  217  ;  Pres.,  239;  letter  to,  323  n.; 
death.  4-'9. 

Gorton,  Thomas.  146. 

Gorton,  Capt.,  520. 

Gortonists,  why  persecuted,  178 ;  to  be  subdued, 
179;  attempt  to  treat,  181;  besieged,  182, 
183;  tried,  184;  sentenced,  187;  banished, 
188;  return  to  R.  I.,  189;  ideas  of  govt., 
194;  triumph  of,  218,  219,  452. 

Gortonoges,  190. 

Gould,  Thomas,  266,  307,  425. 

Gould  Island,  266. 

Goulding,  Koger,  416-519. 

Governor,  title  of,  adopted,  143. 

Grahame,  James,  298,  370-S. 

Granger,  James  N.,  D.  D.,  IDS  u. 

Gratitude.  Indian,  75. 

Greene.  John,  lOO,  104.  107,  176.  184,  238,  268, 
274,  278,  295,  307,  312,  338,  34^3,  345,  352.  865, 
461,  473,  475,  478,  508,  555 ;  agent  in  Ens- 
land,  191,  195,  434,  436,  446,  447,  451-3,  456, 
458,  493,  499.  501;  Dep.  Gov..  519,  525,  580, 
536,  540,  542,  548. 

Greene,  John  Jr.,  240,  245,  256,  263,  807. 

Greenwich,  men  claim  Narrt.,  242;  East  G.  in- 
corp.,  427,  428 ;  named  Dedford,  485;  bounds 
set,  545;  take  Frenchtown,  556-7. 

Groton,  408. 

Ground-nuts,  406  n. 

Guagers  appointed,  543. 


H 

Hadley,  395,  400,  413,  414. 

Hamelton,  Andrew,  527. 

Hamilton,  Marquis  of,  family  claim  to  Narrt., 
119,  305,  471,  474,  479,  505,  529,  537,  538. 

Hampton,  370. 

Hampton  Court  conference,  5. 

Harris,  Thomas,  103,  252,  255,  259. 

Harris,  Thomas,  of  Barbadoes,  265,  269. 

Harris,  Andrew,  264. 

Harris.  William,  97,  100,  102.  107,  254,  262,  317, 
329,  330,  331,  332,  334,  336-8,  840,  342,  854, 
366.  867,  414,  430,  457, 463 ;  arrested  for  trea- 
son, 268;  lawsuits.  432-6;  death,  437. 

Harris,  William  J.,  263  n..  482  n. 

Harbor  at  IJlock  Island.  821,  842. 

Harding,  Kobert,  128,  14S,  152-4;  Capt.,  197. 

Hardships  of  the  early  colonists,  11. 

Harrod,  John,  838,  340. 

Hartford,  98.  96,  117,  159,  253,  282,  309,  353,  425, 
464,  504.  505. 

Harvard  College,  345,  863. 

Hastv-i)udding,  84,  85. 

Hatfield,  400. 

Havens.  William,  133. 

Haversham,  Westerly  so  called,  485. 

Hawkins,  Job,  133. 

Havnes,  Gov.  John,  of  Mass.,  46;  of  Conn.,  147. 

Hazard,  J.  Alfred,  370  n. 

Hazard,  Thom.as,  132. 

"  Hazard's  State  Papers,"  referred  to,  223.  224, 
229,  232,  239,  248,  253,  258,  266,  281,  283,  309, 
340. 

Hazel,  Mr.,  235. 

Hempstead,  248. 


Henchman,  Daniel,  484. 

Henry  VII.  of  England,  27. 

Henry  IV.  of  France,  496. 

Herald's  College,  London,  48. 

Herenden,  or  Hernden,  Ben,  465. 

Heresies  in  R.  I.  reputed,  151;  Gorton  accused 
ot;  163,  184,  187. 

Hewes,  Joshua,  288. 

Higgin.son,  Rev.  Francis,  9,  10,  20. 

Highways,  128. 

Hildreth's'Hist.  of  U.  S.  referred  to,  62,  185. 

Hincklev,  Gov.  Thomas,  397  n.,  484, 469, 477, 478, 
484.  "501,  518.  ^ 

Hodgson,  Robert,  495.  ^- 

Hog  Island,  266,  271.  272,  469,  477,  478,  500. 

Hoiden,  Randal.  124,  127-9,  153,  167,  170,  176, 
187,  195,  203,  217.  222,  226,  240,  245,  260,  252, 
261,  263,  272,315,473,^75,  493;  agent  in 
England,  190,  193,  484,  436,  446,  447,  451^ 
458,  461, 

Holland,  The  Separatists  flee-to,  6. 

Holland,  Cornelius,  252. 

"  Holmes's  Annals  "  refeiTed  to,  14, 17,  68. 

Holmes,  Obadiah,  234,  235. 

Holyman,  Ezekiel,  100,  107,  241. 

Honeyman,  Rev.  James,  560. 

Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  37,  56,  505  n. 

Hopkins,  Guv.  Stephen,  quoted,  99  n. 

Hopkins,  Gov.  Edward,  of  Conn.,  147. 

Hoi)kins,  William,  425. 

Hope  Ishmd,  105  206,  451. 

Ilnrsrs,  4S(1,  489. 

Horton,  Elizabeth,  265. 

Hospitality,  Indian,  75. 

Housatonic  river,  415. 

House,  Walter,  346. 

Howland,  John,  409  n. 

"Hubbard's  Hist,  of  N.  E."  referred  to,  26,  80, 
91,  114,  151,  164,  196,  197,  215,  216.  218,  225. 

"  Hubbard's  Narrative  "  referred  to,  390,  399. 

Hudson,  Lieut.,  249. 

Hudson,  William.  308.  312,  345,  347, 379. 

Huguenots  in  R.  I.,  497,  503,  519,  549. 

Hull,  E.lward,  246,  247. 

Hull,  John.  267. 

"  Hume  and  Smollett,  Hist,  of  England,"  refer- 
red to.  502,  588. 

Hunting,  79,  154. 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Ann,  51,  107,  151,  269 ;  doc- 
trines of,  52,  53,  55,  56,  65;  trial,  64,66; 
death,  66  n. 

Hutchinson,  William,  124,  128,  133,134,  135,  143, 
148,  172. 

Hutchinson,  Edward,  124,  127, 128. 

Hutchinson,  Edward,  Jr.,  124, 127,  282,  805,  SOT, 
808,  879-386,  399. 

Hutchinson,  Samuel,  138. 

Hutchinson,  Elisha.  445. 

Hutchinson,  "Hist,  of  Mass.  Bay,"  referred  to, 
16,  17,  30,  91,  168,  186,  212,  224,  265,  502,  513. 
517. 

"  Hypocrisy  Unmasked,"  referred  to,  159, 168, 
170,  172,  174,  178.  179,  183,  185,  190. 


"  111  News  from  N.  E."  referred  to,  235,  444 
Immortalit.v,  Indian  idea  of,  78. 
"Impertindnt  File,"  the,  337  n.,  340 n. 
Imposts  laid  b.y  James  II.,  481. 
Imi)ris()nment  for  debt,  forbidden,  208. 
Independence  contemplated  in  Mass.,  32. 
Independents,  toleration  denied  to,  237. 
India  Point,  40. 
Indian,  salutation,  40;  tribes  of  N.  K.,  73,  14: 


GENERAL    INDEX    TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


567 


character,  75,  82 ;  customs,  76 ;  funeral  rites, 
"7;  religion,  78;  sports,  79;  tradition,  80; 
money,  81 ;  councils,  S3 ;  food,  84;  wigwams, 
85 ;  languages,  86 :  ideas  upon  Gorton's  re- 
lease, 190 ;  dissensions,  222 ;  foreigners  not 
to  trade  with,  251;  war,  253;  laws  against, 
271,423,425;  titles  to  land  recognized,  290, 
292;  disarmed,  330 :  drunkenness,  366  ;  jury, 
367;  plots,  369,  395;  gallantry,  890;  elo- 
quenoe,  S3,  394;  heroism,  411;  chivalry, 
418;  captives  sold,  416,  419,  425. 

.'ndictments  of  Gorton,  at  Aquedneck,  170-2; 
at  Boston.  1S4. 

"  Indigenous  Kaces  of  the  Earth,"  referred  to, 
423. 

Inhabitant  and  freeman,  distinction  of,  256. 

Inoculation,  523  n. 

Interpolations  in  E,  I,  laws.  311,  479  n. 

Ipswich,  187,  218. 

Iroquois  language,  86. 


Jackson,  Henry,  D.  D.,    "Churches    in  K.  I.," 

108  n. 
Jackson,  Dr.   Charles  T.,  "Survey  of  E.  I.," 

226  n. 
Jamaica,  471,  477. 
James  I.,  reign  of,  5,  6,  27,  291. 
James  II.,  362,  479.  481,  492,  510,  515,  516. 
James,  Thomas,  100,  107. 
Jamestown  incorp.,  449 ;  ferry  at,  554,  555. 
Jarves,  J.  J.,  "  Confessions  of  an  Inquirer,"  422. 
Jett'eries,  Lord  Chanc,  492. 
Jettreys,  Eobert,  143,  152,  154. 
Jenner,  Dr.  523  n. 
Jesuits,  496,  497. 
Jesus  College,  48. 
Jews  protected,  478. 
Johnson's  "  "Wonder  Working  Providence,"  51, 

91. 
Johnson,  Edward,  180. 
Judith,  Point,  477. 
Judge.  Title  of,  70, 127,  143. 
Jurisdiction,  doubtful,  106 ;  a  foreign  in  E.  I.,  111. 
Jurors,  elected,  153;    apportioned^  302 ;    Indian, 

307. 
Justice,  denied  to  Salem,  34 ;  Indian  sense  of,  82. 
Justice  of  Peace,  144;  in  Narrt,  484. 


Karalit  language,  86. 

Kent,  Joseph,  306. 

Kent  County,  74. 

"  Kev  to  Indian  Language,"  referred  to,  40,  74, 

75,  66,  190,  212. 
Kidd.  Capt.  AVilliam,  543,  .>16,  547. 
King's  Province,  224  n.;  named,  315;  see  Nar- 

rasanset. 
Kingstown,  or  Kingston,  368,  453,  455,  467,  468, 

473 ;  to  be  divided,  482 :  called   Kochester, 

4S5;  French  settlers  in,  497;  bounds,  532, 

545 ;    Assv.  at,  542 ;    court  at,  555 ;    North, 

195;  South,  267.403. 
Kniirht,  Eichard,  227,  229,  245,  250,  252;  255,  261, 

271. 
Knowle's  "Life  of  Eoger  Williams,"  referred  to, 

22.  36,  105, 197,  2;J4,  251,  253,  255,  362,  390, 

409,  475. 


Labor  regulated,  16. ' 

Land,  tenure  fixed,  148 ;  not  to  be  bought  of  In- 


dians, 240,  267;  titles  settled,  279;  pur- 
chases, 272,  276;  public,  852,  356,  358. 

Lancaster  burnt,  407, 

Lathrop,  Capt.,  400. 

Laud,  Archbishop,  6,  28. 

"Law  and  Order"  at  Warwick,  195  n. 

Lawsuits,  the  Harris,  432-8,  536;  Sandford  vs. 
Forster,  448. 

Lawton.  George,  133,  414. 

Laws,  how  passed  or  repealed,  203,  232,  270,  274, 
364,365;  to  be  revised,  311,  330;  phraseol- 
ogy of,  442;  digest  of,  459,  483 ;  to  be  sent  to 
England,  543,  551-3. 

Layton,  Thomas,  1-38. 

League,  N.  E.,  see  Confederacy. 

Lechford's  "  Plaine  Dealing,"  referred  to,  99, 
140,  168. 

Leeds,  Duke  of,  529. 

Leete,  Gov.  of  Conn.,  456. 

Legalists,  views  of  the,  58 ;  party  of,  54  ;  tri- 
umph, 60. 

Legislation,  curiosities  of,  443 ;  independent, 
557. 

Legislature,  see  General  Assembly. 

Leisler,  Gov.  of  N.  Y.,  520,  .546. 

Letters,  extracts  from,  Boston  to  Salem,  20; 
Williams  to  Major  Mason,  91 ;  Mass.  to  Paw- 
tnxet  men.  111 ;  The  Three  Govs,  to  Mass., 
146;  Gorton  and  Mass.,  172,  174,175,178, 
179,  180, 181, 189;  Barton  to  Winthrop,  218; 
Mass.  to  E.  I.,  238,  277  ;  Vane  to  E.  1.,  249 ; 
AVilliams  to  Prov.,  251 ;  on  soul  liberty,  254 
-5;  E.  I.  to  U.  Cols.,  266,  to  Cromwell",  268; 
Charles  II.  to  U.  Cols.,  283 ;  Cartwright  to 
Gorton,  823 ;  E.  I.  to  Lord  Clarendon,  328 ; 
"  the  pernitious  letter,"  325;  "  the  damned 
letter,  340 ;  Atherton  Co.  and  Winthrop. 
877-381 ;  John  Scott,  883;  Sheriff  of  London 
to  E.  L,  482 ;  E.  I.  to  Board  of  Trade,  488- 
491 ;  Mr.  Lloyd's,  523. 

Lenthal,  Eobert,  "l46,  152,  153. 

Leveret,  Gov.  396,  435. 

Lewin,  John,  463. 

Libel  law,  242. 

Liberty  of  Conscience,  see  Eeligious  Freedom. 

Lillibridge,  Thomas,  559. 

Liquor  laws,  227.  251,  257,  367,  868,483,  503,  584; 
a  seizure,  425. 

Little  Compton,  897,  398,  535. 

Liturgy  established,  2. 

Lockj-er,  Eev.,  560. 

London  charter  lost,  492. 

Longbottom,  James,  276. 

Long  Island,  23,  69,  73,  89,  246,  248,  253,  339,  302. 

Long  Parliament,  118. 

Lord,  Eichard,  379. 

Lord  Protector,  see  Cromwell. 

Lords,  House  of,  abolished,  237. 

Louis  XIV.,  496,  527. 

Lovelace,  Gov.  of  N.  Y.,  838,  362,  368 

Lumber  trade,  142. 

Luther.  Martin,  1,  67. 

Luther,  John,  130. 

Lynde,  Simon,  484. 

Lyon,  ship,  19. 

Lytherland,  William.  24.5,  252. 

Lytton,  Sir  E.  B.,  "My  Novel,"  128  ii. 


M 

Mackie,  J.  M.,  "  Life  of  Gorton,"  190,  429. 

Madagascar,  540. 

Maestroiddyn,  4S. 

Magistrates",  no'  to  leave  the  bench,  260 ;  powen 

"of,  330,  865. 
Magnus,  squaw  sachem,  415. 


568 


GENERAL    INDEX   TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


Maine,  156,  362,  397,  39S,  4S2. 

Major  General,  office  of,  413,  441, 443;  to  be  two, 
469 ;  elected  by  the  people,  478. 

Majority  of  Freemen  to  rule,  158,202;  age  of, 
261). 

Mallett,  Thomas,  555,  559. 

Manilriek,  Mr.,  3S0. 

Manhattan,  see  New  York. 

Marble,  William,  282. 

Market  days,  427. 

MarlborouVh,  408. 

Marriages.  Indian,  75,  76;  Law  of,  208, 260;  how 
published.  325;  number  of,  490;  fee,  545. 

Marshrteld.  :!90. 

Manh.i"s  Vineyard,  362,  521. 

Martiiidale.  Isaac,  559. 

Mary,  Queen.  2. 

Maryland.  527. 

Mason,  Major  John,  91,  93,  95,  847. 

Mason,  Capt.,  of  Conn.,  653. 

Mason,  Gov.  of  New  Hamp.,  470. 

Massachusetts  Co.,  9;  Govt.,  14;  Indians,  73; 
receives  Pawtuxet  men,  111 ;  Narrt.  p.itent, 
118 ;  official  discourtesy,  147 ;  intrigues,  176 ; 
claims  Warwick,  177  :  attacks  it,  181 ;  re- 
cent historians  of.  185  n. ;  attempts  to  settle 
Warwick,  191 ;  designs  on  R.  I.,  192,  217, 
231.  232,  233,  277,  440,  445,  ^35 ;  Indian  af- 
fairs, 196,  248,  253,  334,  335 ;  persecutes  Bap- 
tists, 234-6,  and  Quakers,  264-6,  268-270, 
273  ;  sued  by  Gorton,  258 ;  releases  Paw- 
tuxet men,  267;  coins  silver,  279;  proposes 
a  reference,  283,  307 ;  grants  declared  void, 
816 :  opposes  royal  comms.,  322,  323,  325 ; 
Philip's  war  in,  407,  408 ;  oppressed  by  Ran- 
dolph, 467  ;  quo  warranto,  481, 482  ;  Dudley 
In,  483 ;  Andros,  498 ;  Provisional  Govt., 
513;  Uoyal  Govt  over,  524. 

Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  referred  to,  50, 
111,  112,  127.  133,  177,  187,  188,  191,  217,  226, 
23-1-3.  24<).  247.  204,  268,  274,  277,  283,  303, 
808.  322.  323,  334,  483. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Collections  referred  to, 
116,  157,  183,  19.5,  197,  297,  847,  453,  456,  466, 
469.  482,  4S3,  495,  500,  504,  513,  522. 

Massacre  at  Weathersfield,  92 ;  Mystic,  94 ; 
Swanzey,  369,  396,  see  Philip's  War. 

Massasoit.  sachem  of  Wampanoags,  23,  89,  87, 
120,  159,  212,  389,  391,  392  ;  death,  387. 

Mather,  Increase,  513,  515. 

Mather.  "  Masnalia,"  referred  to,  21,  22,  30,  36, 
51,  53,  62,'91,  151, 164. 

Mather,  "  Relation,"  referred  to,  390,  891. 

Maverick,  Samuel,  305. 

Mawsup,  Sachem,  339. 

Ma.von,  or  Maggson,  Richard,  188. 

Mavtlovvei-,  the  ship,  7,  12,  137. 

M^i'vo.  SaniiU'l,  248,  249. 

McM-iiies  and  wci-hts,  869,  540. 

M.dliel<l  b'lriit,  107. 

Meelitig  of  Puiilan  clergy,  26. 

Mutaconiet,  417,  sec  Philip. 

Mcta[)l)ysics  defined,  58  n. 

Merriinack  river,  73. 

-Merry  .Mount.  \^. 

Mi-ssengers,  see  Kmbassies. 

Mi'xham,  son  of  Canonicus,  248. 

Miantinomi,  sachem,  23,  24,  70,  74,  87,  88,  92,  99, 
1.54,  1.58,  176.  178,  179,  190,  266,  276,  891,  392, 
4-30;  death,  115-17. 

Military  expeditions,  89,  93,  95, 152, 180, 196, 197, 
199.  246,  396,  401,  406 ;  stores  apportioned, 
2.  30. 

Mflitia  organ iz.ition,  128,  141,  144,  204,  253,  819, 
880,  426.  4^9.  523 ;  conflicts  with  royal  gov- 
ernor.s,  .525,  .528. 

Milton,  John,  225  n. ;  a  friend  of  E.  Williams,  250. 


Mines,  gold  and  silver,  225 ;  coal,  226. 

Minorities  protected,  206. 

Misdemeanors,  articles  of,  4S0,  481. 

Misquamicock,  see  Westerly. 

Mississippi  river,  96. 

Mohesan  tribe,  73,  89,  91,  93, 196,  197,  199,  264, 

275,  402,  466. 
Mohawk  tribe,  73, 198,  264. 
Molasses,  duty  on,  534. 
Money,  Indian,  81 ;  values  of,  849. 
Monmouth,  I)uke  of,  481. 
Monogamy  .among  Narrt.  Indians,  76. 
Montague,  Mary  Wortley,  52Sii. 
>lontauk  tribe,"73,  87. 
More,  John,  133. 
Mortality  among  Indians,  78,  76. 
Mortgaged  lands  in  Narrt.,  275,  815. 
Morton,  Thomas,  15. 
"  Morton's  Memorial,"  referred  to,  18,  22,  24,  85, 

81,  91,  106, 165,  168,  890,  418. 
Moshasuck  river,  40,  99,  430;  hill,  331. 
Mosher,  Hugh,  276. 
Mother  Goose,  189  n. 
Motto  on  State  Seal,  149. 
Mount  Hope,  23,  388,  396,  897,  415,  452,  458,  456, 

458. 
Mumford,  Thomas,  267,  847. 
Munday.  a  pirate,  543. 
Murder,  of  Oldham,  87;  of  an  Indian,  106;  of 

Miantinomi,  117  ;  of  House,  346;  of  Weeks. 

870 ;  of  Clawson,  465. 
Mystic,  river  and  fort,  93;  town,  281. 


N 

Namcook  purchase,  272. 

Nantes,  edict  of,  496. 

Nantucket,  362,  521. 

Narraganset  tribe,  23,  78,  74,  75-86.  89.  3.34,  .389, 
466 ;  treaties,  92, 116, 144, 197, 198,  .398 ;  decay 
of,  177-8,  417,  420 ;  submit  to  King  Charles, 
190,315;  Atherton's  expedition,  199 ;  early 
history,  212;  w.ar  on  Uncas,  224,  264;  oii 
Long  Island,  248,  253;  mortgage  land,  275; 
school  for,  828 ;  plots,  895-7 ;  join  Philip, 
401 ;  defeated,  406. 

Narraganset  Bay,  38,  69, 9.3, 324. 828 ;  coveted  by 
Massacliusetts,  112,  178,  889. 

Narraganset  patent,  118-120,  277,  883. 

Narraganset  country,  193,195,204,242;  Ather- 
ton  purchase,  272,  275 ;  claimed  by  Mass., 
Conn.,  and  ftimily  of  Hamilton,  277,  281, 
804,  305,  807,  80S,  814,  328,  3-35,  343-350,  .353, 
357,  806,  370-886,  423-5,  427,  440,  442,  445, 
447,451,455-8,  461,  463,  469,  471,  479,480. 
525,  580,  585,  545,  557;  annexed  to  R.  I.,  815, 
817  ;  bounds,  338 ;  decisi'ons  for  Conn.,  474, 
534;  secured  to  R.  I.,  351,  426,  442,  505; 
Dudley's  gov't,  482,  484-6;  Andros,  503; 
riots  in,  555. 

Nassaump,  84,  85. 

Natick,  895. 

Naval, "armaments  and  expeditions,  152,  246, 409 
.522;  victory,  521. 

Neale,  Thomas,  527. 

Neale's  "•History  of  the  Puritans,"  4. 

New  Knirland,  causes  of  settlement,  I;  ante-Co- 
lumbian discovery,  27  n. 

"New  England  ensign,"  referred  to,  265,  269.  . 

"New  England  Geneal.  Register,"  referred  to, 
174. 

"New  England  judged,"  referred  to,  265,269, 
273. 

"New  England  firebrand  quenched,"  referred 
to,  862  n.,  476. 

New  Hampshire,  469,  470,  482,  535,  586. 


GENERAL   INDEX   TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


56S 


N«w  Haven,  95, 196. 

New  Jersey,  4Sl ;  annexed  to  N.  E.,  508.  5S6. 

New  London,  96.  343,  345.  a50,  456,  521,  655. 

New  Shorehaui.  ineorp.,  364. 

New  York,  113,  158.  241.  314,  332,  .339,  362,  866, 
494,  527,  531,  536,  541,  545,  546,  547,  549 ;  In- 
dians in,  78;  trade  with,  155;  surrender  ol", 
309 ;  annexed  to  N.  Eng.,  508,  509. 

New  York  documents,  referred  to,  481, 531, 533 ; 
Broadhoiid's  Hist,  of,  155. 

Newberry,  Mass.,  370;  plantation  in  E.  I.,  497. 

Newberry,  Walter,  424,  499,  500,  508,  532. 

Newhouse,  Thomas,  265. 

Newland,  Kichard,  559. 

Newman,  S.  C,  quoted,  99  n. 

Newport  settled,  71, 136,  137,  870 ;  committee  of 
union,  122,  201 ;  census,  142 ;  union  with 
Portsmouth,  143;  school  law,  145;  growth 
of,  205,  272;  disagrees  with  Ports.,  213,  221, 
478 ;  proposals  for  reunion,  244 ;  Assy.  at. 
^45,  345;  freemen  in,  256;  fortified,  330; 
■war  tax,  331 ;  fast  riding  forbidden,  442 ; 
Andros  at,  506,  513 ;  threatened  attack  on, 
521. 

Newtown,  Mass.,  see  Cambridge. 

Newtown,  K.  I.,  laid  out,  128. 

Niantic  tribe,  74,  198.  222.  460. 

Nichols,  Col.  Kichard,  305,  309,  314, 332, 384, 835, 
373,  439,  46:3. 

Night-watch  established,  158. 

Niies,  Nicholas,  161. 

Niles,  Samuel,  "  Hist,  of  Fr.  and  Eng.  wars,"  re- 
ferred to,  75,  522. 

Ninecraft,  sachem  of  Narrt.,  816.  338.  389. 

Nini^i-et,  sachem  of  Niantics,  74,  198, 199,  248, 
2.53,  276.  411.  460. 

Nipmuck  tribe,  74,  222,  334,  399. 

Non-conformity,  first  appearance  of,  2. 

Nonsuch,  fri<rate,  522. 

Northfield,  4(J0. 

Northampton,  408,  41.3. 

North  Kingston  settled,  195. 

Norwich,  347. 

Notice  required  on  sailing,  454. 

Nova  Scotia,  494. 

O 

Oak.  the  Charter,  498,  504. 

Oaths,  Williams's  views  upon,  30;  Freemen's, 
31 ;  of  trade  and  nav.,  467,  478,  539 ;  K.  I. 
ideas  of,  548. 

Obeisance,  Indian  mode  of^  75. 

Oblivion,  act  of,  225. 

Otlice,  penalties  for  refusing,  228,  256 ;  vacancies 
in,  how  filled,  261. 

Officers,  under  first  charter,  211 ;  under  second 
charter,  295. 

Oldham,  John,  87.89,  105. 

Oleron,  sea  laws  of,  adopted,  204. 

Olnev.  Thomas,  100,  102,  107,  181,  226,  240,  245, 
250.  2.54,  255,  257,  259,  261,  295,  4:32. 

Oliiey,  Thomas,  Jr.,  ;361. 

One  "hundred  and  one,  recurrence  of  the  num- 
ber, 137  n. 

Opinionists,  the  Antinomians  so  styled,  54. 

Orchards,  first  in  Mass.,  98 ;  in  R.  I.,  99,  13T. 

Oregon,  96. 

Orphans,  Indian  care  of,  75. 

Ousamequin,  see  Massasoit. 

Oxford  University,  48. 

Oyster  Bay,  248. 


Paine.  Anthony,  1.33. 
Paine,  John,  362,  363. 


Paine,  Capt.  Thomas,  471,  521,  546,  559. 

Palmes,  Edward,  469. 

Palmer,  a  pirate,  547. 

Pantheism,  Indian,  78. 

Panthers,  7:3. 

Paper  money,  522. 

Papists,  none  in  Pv.  I..  490 ;  plot,  532,  538. 

Parker.  George,  15:3,  255,  261. 

Particular  courts.  144. 

Parties,  colonial,  5:35. 

Partridge,  Alexander,  220.  222. 

Passports  in  New  Eng.,  499. 

Patent,  of  Mass.,  Williams'  treatise  on,  27,  23 
29;  attempt  to  enlarge,  118;  see  Charter. 

Patience,  island,  105,  172,  17:3,  451. 

Patric,  Capt..  95. 

Pawcatuck  river  and  town,  23,  73.  87,  277,  281, 
2S2,  297.  312,  .521,  525,  530. 

Pawtucket  river,  98,  100 ;  falls  of,  408. 

Pawtuxet  river,  100;  purchase,  l(tl ;  men  sub- 
mit to  Mass.,  Ill,  155,  174;  Gorton  moves 
to,  174-5;  to  choose  its  jurisdiction,  204:  an- 
nexed to  Mass.,  2:30,  231;  to  PlyiH.,  2-32; 
complains  to  Mass.,  233,  247;  Assy,  at,  243; 
Mass.  subjects  at  obstruct  R.  I.,  258 ;  submit 
to  R.  I.,  267 :  robbery  at,  271 ;  boundary  dis- 
pute, 429-4:38,  536. 

Peace,  Eng.,  and  Hoi.,  267,  368. 

Peage,  see  Wampum. 

Peake,  Alderman,  380. 

Pease,  William,  559. 

Pedlars,  act  against,  545;  taxed,  557. 

Peirse,  Capt.  defeated,  408,  410. 

Pekar,  Capt.,  521. 

Pelham,  Ciipt.,  520  _ 

Pemberton,  of  Westerly,  554,  555,  006. 

Pembroke  College,  49. 

Pendleton,  James,  484 

Pennsylvania,  527. 

Pension  act,  :366. 

Pensioners,  49. 

Pequot  tribe,  39,  276,  316,  402,  420;  war,  54,  62, 
64,  7:5,  74,  87,  88-96. 

Perjury  law,  20s. 

Persecution,  religious,  189  n.;  of  Baptists,  234-5; 
of  Quakers,  264-6,  268-270;  of  Huguenots, 
496. 

Pessicus,  sachem  of  Narrt.,  158,  190,  197,  198, 
199,  224,  231,  248,  276,  315,  316,  :324,  391. 

Pestilence  among  the  Indians,  7-3,  :387,  and  Eng- 
lish, 523. 

Peter,  Hugh,  57,  464. 

Pettaquamscot,  266,  277,  315,  331,  345,  351,  403, 
5(17. 

Phebe's  Neck  69. 

Philip  of"  Pokano'ket.  87,331,  3.39,  3.50.869,388, 
892-6.  406.  410,  411,  415;  death,  416. 

Phipps,  Sir  William,  224  n.,  398  n.,  522,  524-8, 
5:31. 

Pilgrims,  6,  7 ;  differ  from  Puritans,  12-14,  22, 
"166;  influenced  bv  them,  160,  4S4. 

Piracy  and  Pirates,  494,  540,  541,  543,  546,  547, 
550,  552. 

Plato,  doctrines  of,  among  Indians,  78. 

Plurality  law,  812. 

Plymouth  Co.,  7,  8,  291.  292,  362;  Govt,  of,  12, 
14 ;  claims  Sowams,  69,  and  Aquedneck,  1.59, 
and  Warwick,  184,  191,  and  Hog  Island,  266, 
271,  469.  477 ;  other  claims  on  R.  I.,  ;308.  :312, 
815,  •3.36,  440,  444,  477;  dealings  with  Mass., 
89,  2:30,  231.  2-32,  239;  proceedings  ag.ainst 
Gorton,  164-6;  established  church."  319; 
seizes  Wamsutta,  390;  summons  Philip, 
893;  .irbiter  in  Harris  causes,  4:36 ;  obtains 
Mt.  Hope,  45:3,458;  rebuked,  4s4,  501;  re- 
sumes charter,  513;  united  to  Mass.,  226  u., 
524. 


570 


GENERAL    INDEX   TO    VOLUME   FIRST. 


Pocasset.  settled,  71, 12o,  370 ;  agreement  to  emi- 
srate,  132 ;  named  Portsmouth,  136,  143 ; 
Indians,  389. 

Pokanoket  tribe,  23,  73,  74,  212. 

Poll  tax.  542. 

I'lilvLMiny,  Indian,  76. 

Piilytheisui.  Indian,  78. 

P()l»-.  Francis,  559. 

Porter.  John,  124,  127,135, 148,  229,  267,  295;  di- 
vorced. 320. 

Portsmouth.  71,  122,  128,  129,  201,  205,  232,  313, 
3C8;  Govt.,  l.SO,  131 ;  separation,  132;  elec- 
tion, 134,  135;  union  with  Newport,  143; 
lerrv,  146;  night  watch,  15S;  game  laws, 
161  •  Gorton's  cai^e.  169-172 ;  first  Gen.  Assv., 
201 ;  disagrees  with  Newport,  213,  221,  47S; 
asks  to  ioin  N.  E.  League,  223;  freemen  in, 
256;  fortified,  410. 

Possession  by  right  of  discovery,  291. 

Post  routes  established,  527. 

Potowomut,  272,  458,  467,  485. 

Potter,  Abell.  161. 

Potter.  George.  133. 

Potter,  Nathaniel,  13-3. 

Potter,  Robert,  133,  153,  167, 176, 187. 

Potter,  Hon.  E.  K.,  "Hist,  of  Narraganset,"  re- 
ferred to,  195,  267,  276,  816, 347, 466,  486,  503, 
507,  545. 

Poverty  of  the  colonists,  251,  313. 

Povaws,  Indian,  76. 

Powder,  refused  to  R.  I.,  158,  253. 

Power,  Nicholas,  176,  184,187. 

Preamble  to  the  code  of  1647,  205. 

Pieiiietions  fulfilled,  416,  417. 

Preemption  riirhts,  4S5. 

Preshyterianism  in  Endand,  237. 

Presbvterv  feared  in  Mass..  26. 

President,' duties  of,  211,270. 

Press,  the,  under  Andros,  508. 

Pretender,  birth  of  the,  5U9,  527. 

Prices  of  produce,  153,  313,  349,  450,  451. 

Prince,  Gov.,  of  Plym.,  283,  852,  389,  390. 

Prince.  Rev.  Thomas,  "Annals,"  referred  to,  14, 
16.  17,  22,  75;  "Introd.  to  Mason's  Hist,"  91. 

Prisoners,  support  of,  851. 

Prisons  to  be  built,  129,  227,  256,  267,  486,  532. 

Privateers  on  the  coast,  469,  470,  477,  489,  520, 
621,  522. 

Privateering  in  K.  L,  246,  247,  250,  471 ;  act 
against,  478,  534. 

Probate  law,  208,  369. 

Propositions,  the  five,  of  1665,  817,  31S. 

Protistants.  two  parties  of,  8,  42. 

Protests,  330,  385,  838,  342,  859,  865. 

Providence,  40,  69,  70,  97,  127.  181,  201,  205,  818, 
831,  407,408,425,  466,509;  the  18  propri- 
etors, loo  ;  divisions  of  land,  101, 121 ;  govt, 
102,  108-110:  civil  compact,  103;  first 
church,  107;  riots,  110,254;  conciliates  the 
Indians,  120;  growth  of,  121,  272;  instruc- 
tions, 123;  Gorton  at,  172-4;  dissensions  at 
172-4,  214,  242-6,  SJBl,  338,  340,  854,  358,  466 
two  sets  of  Assts.,  245-6 ;  freemen  in,  256 
fortified,  258;  .justice's court,  259;  boundary 
disputes,  429-4;W,  5ti6 :  Assy,  to  meet  regu- 
lar! v  at,  479;  claimed  by  Conn.,  545. 

Proxy  votes,  143,  202.  811. 

Prudence  Island,  87, 105,  172,420,  503;  joined  to 
Ports.,  204;  independent,  362-8. 

Pundiani,  sachem  of  Shawomet,  74,  176,  184, 
191,  196,  260,  271,308,316,  824,  392,508;  sub- 
mits to  Mass.,  177;  rebels,  398;  death,  417. 

Punctnalitv,  an  Indian  tr.iit,  82. 

Punishments.  Indian,  83;  inflicted,  128,  142, 
257,  25S.  261,  275,  313,  820,  329,  351. 

Puritans,  rise  of  the,  8;  disown  other  sects,  4; 
two  kinds  of,  6 ;  policy  in  Mass.,  10, 11,  52, 


67;  aim  at  independence,  32,  19-3;  cKarao 
ter  of,  48-6 ;  polemic  habits,  63 ;  integrity, 
92;  bigotry,  147  n. ;  hostility  to  R.  I.,  16i; 
402;  apology  for,  185  n.;  persecute  Gorton- 
ists,  177-89,  and  Baptists,  284-5.  and  (.junk- 
ers, 264-6,  268-270,  273 ;  threats,  233  n.;  hated 
Cromwell,  274;  treatment  of  the  Indians, 
391,  and  of  R.  I.,  402 ;  their  estimate  of  An- 
dros, 514. 
Pyncheon,  John,  469. 


Q 

Quahaug  shell,  84. 

Quakers;  151.  184,  208,  820,  826,  599,  490,  495, 
640;  arriv.!!  in  Boston,  264;'  persecuted, 
2(>5-6,  268-70,  273;  debate  with  Williams, 
859-862,  476. 

Quarter  Courts,  144. 

Quebec,  522. 

Queries  of  Board  of  Trade,  458. 

Questions  discussed  in  the  Antinomian  contro- 
versy, 54 ;  put  at  Gorton's  trial,  186. 

Quidnesett  purchase,  272. 

Quinapin,  a  sachem,  417. 

Quincy,  Hon.  Josiah,  298,  872,  375,  384. 

Quinnebaug,  297. 

Quit-rent  in  R.  I.,  503,  507. 

Quorum  established,  202. 

Quota  of  troops,  628, 529. 

Quotenis,  island,  155. 

Quo  warranto,  writs  of,  480,  481,  483,  484,  492 ; 
threatened,  544,  554. 


E 

Races,  law  of  succession  of,  420-3. 

Randolph,  Edward.  418,  467.  469,  471,  480-5.  493, 
494,  502,  511,  515,  541,  546. 

Rapin's  "  Hist,  of  Eng."  referred  to,  293. 

Ray,  Simon,  803. 

Real  estate,  tenure  of,  in  R.  I.,  14S-9. 

Reciprocal  engagements,  205,  228,  317. 

Records,  of  Prov..  99,  102;  of  Ports.,  159;  of 
Warwick,  195,  260,  819,  836,  840,  4=34,  458;  of 
Coddington's  govt,  259;  of  Gen.  Assy,  lost, 
524,  5S6. 

Red  Sea,  540,  543. 

Reformation,  the,  1,  2;  checked,  4;  aims  of,  25, 
41. 

Registry  of  births,  &c.,  364,  545. 

Rehoboth,  see  Seeconck. 

Religious  Freedom,  at  Prov.,  102 ;  at  Aquedneck, 
149,  162 ;  in  first  charter,  200-1 ;  successful, 
215;  how  guarded,  252;.  defined  bv  Wil- 
liams, 254-5;  defended  by  R.  I.,  266;  in 
second  charter,  292 ;  advocated  by  Randolph, 
485,  and  by  Andros,  501 ;  maintained  in  R. 
I.,  490 ;  allowed  by  James  II.,  502,  508. 

Religious  views  of  the  Indian.'^,  78. 

Remonstrance,  as  to  commissions  against  the 
Dutch,  247  ;  Narrt.  Indians  to  the  English, 
264;  R.  I.  against  Atherton  Co.,  463. 

Report  of  Coms.  of  1683, 474. 

Representative  system  adopted,  202. 

Republican  feeling,  unknown  in  Mass.,  83;  per- 
vades R.  I.,  205,  207,  293,  294;  party  in  E.  I., 
222,  517. 

Residence,  how  obtained,  468. 

Restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  274. 

Revenue  system  of  Andros,  503. 

Revolution  against  Andros,  610-511. 

"Revolution  in  N.  Eng.  Justified,"  referred  tft 
509. 

Reynolds,  James,  425, 


GENERAL  INDEX  TO   VOLUME   FIRST. 


571 


EejTiolds,  ■William,  103. 

*'  Khode  Island  Colcnial  Records,"  referred  to, 
183,  134,  325,  52S,  et  paiisim. 

"Khode  Island  Hiet.  Colls."  referred  to,  112, 
34T. 

Rhode  Island,  State  of,  origin  of  name,  70 ;  need 
of  a  charter,  113:  delay  in  uniting,  122,  201 ; 
rejected  by  N.  E,  League,  157,  223;  name 
adopted,  158 ;  first  charter,  200 ;  establish- 
ment of  democracy  and  of  religious  freedom 
both  original  with.  205,  207,  215;  virtually 
independent,  207,  293-4  ;  resemblance  to  the 
Federal  Union,  211  n.,  parties  in,  222,  426, 
517;  danger  from  Indians,  222;  Codding- 
ton's  scheme,  233 ;  dismembered,  2:38 ;  re- 
united, 242.  251 ;  dissensions  in,  243,  246,  247, 
341,  354;  causes  of  these,  244,  251 ;  their  ef- 
fect in  England,  249  ;  loyalty  of,  245 ;  mar- 
tial spirit  of,  246 ;  protects  Quakers.  266, 26S, 
859,  and  Jews,  47S-9 ;  appoints  officers  in 
Narrt..  279;  petitions  for  a  new  charter, 
2S0  ;  two  epochs  of  its  history,  286-7 ;  recog- 
nizes Indian  land  titles,  290-2 ;  King's  Pro- 
vince assigned  to,  815.  317;  opposes  Philip's 
War,  399 ;  but  not  consulted,  402  ;  the  war 
in,  403,  415, 41S  ;  treatment  of  captives,  419 ; 
renewed  struggles  for  existence,  440,  536 ; 
statistical  account  of,  460,488-491;  writ  of 
quo  warranto,  4sl ;  charter  suspended,  4S6  ; 
made  one  connty,  501 ;  rights  vindicated  by 
Andros,  505,  516;  resumes  the  charter,  512; 
close  of  the  "  formation  period,"  519  ;  rights 
infringed,  524;  decision  in  favor  of^  527  ;  ex- 
posed condition  of,  583;  charges  against, 
541,  542,  544.  551,  552 ;  a  quo  warranto 
threatened,  554,  556 ;  free  legislation  ofi  557. 

Rhodes,  Zechariah,  102,  253,  432. 

Richards,  constable,  413  n. 

Richardson,  William,  133. 

Richison,  Am.,  379. 

Richmond,  Edward,  416,  442. 

Rickard,  George,  loS. 

Riding  fast,  forbidden,  442,  467. 

"  Hiss's  Narrative,"  referred  to,  511. 

KiotK  at  Prov.,  110.  174,  2.54 ;  at  Ports.,  129, 170 ; 
at  Warwick,  271 ;  at  Westerly,  282,  350 ;  in 
King's  Province,  555,  557. 

Robinson,  Rev.  John,  13. 

Robinson,  Willij.m,  273. 

Rochcfoucanlt,  maxim  of,  92  n. 

Rochester,  Kingston  so  called,  485,  504. 

Rockv  Mountains,  96. 

Rosefs,  or  Kodgers,  James,  195,  268,  271,  273, 
^274,306;  death,  424. 

Rogers,  John,  501. 

Rogers,  Capt.,  520. 

Roman  Catholics,  274,  490,  532. 

Romilly,  Joseph.  43. 

Roome,  .lohn,  133,  252. 

Rosetta  Stone,  134  n. 

Rose,  frigate,  498,  511. 

Rowlandson's,  Mrs.,  "Narrative,''  418. 

Rowlev,  187. 

Rbxbury,  187,  512. 

Royalist  party  in  R.  I.,  222,  229,  517,  52& 

Runners,  Indian,  83. 

Ryswick,  treaty  of,  538,  589. 


B 


Sabbatarians,  427. 

Sachems,  power  of  the,  83. 

Sachuest,  331. 

Sadloir.  Mrs.  Anne.  47. 

Baffin,  John.  427,  44.5,  447,  4.57,  464. 

Salaries,  356,  358,  365,  532,  548. 


Sale  of  Indians,  416,  419,  425. 

Salem,  9, 10,  20,  21,  24,  ;i6,  34,  33, 187,  265. 

Salmon.  72. 

Saltonstall,  Nathaniel,  469. 

Samp,  84,  85. 

Sandford,  John,  124,  127, 144,  208,  226,  256,  261, 

274,  278,  815,  327,  442,  499 ;  Pres..  245. 
Sandford.  Peleg,  427.  4;34,  442,  447,  469,  473,  502, 

526,  539,  547,  548,  651 ;  Gov.,  469,  466,  467. 
Sands,  James,  303,  806. 
Sassacus,  sachem  of  Pequots,  89,  93,  95. 
Saunders,  Tobias,  277,  231,  344,  351. 
Sausaman,  an  Indian,  395-6. 
Savage,  Thomas.  124,  462. 
Savage,  Major,  396. 
Savage,  Hon.  James,  referred  to,  22,  27,  34,  50. 

6.3,  117,  140,  147,  185,  225. 
Saybrook,  89,  92,  93,  95,  504. 
Sayles,  John,  245. 

Scalping,  learned  from,  the  French,  75. 
Scarcity  of  provisions,  142. 
Scituate,  Mass.,  484. 
Scot,  or  Scott,  John,  299,  800,  883-5. 
Scott,  Richard,  103,  269,  476;    Catharine,  his 

wife,  269 ;  Mary  and  Patience,  daughters, 

273 
Scotch  story,  188  n. 
Scouting  parties,  538. 
Sea  laws  adopted,  204,  464. 
Seal  adopted,  149,  204,  306;  of  N.  Eng.,  496;  of 

Andros,  496;  of  R.  I.  broken,  506;  new  ono 

procured,  619. 
Sealed  ballots  used,  1-31. 
Seaconnet,  395,  414,  477. 
Sealers  of  weights,  369,  540. 
Seamen,  protected,  454. 
Secretary,  duties  of,  146. 
Sedgwick,  Samuel,  333,  385. 
Sedition  act,  355,  358,  455,  653,  554. 
Seekers,  doctrines  of,  151  n. 
Seekonk,  river  and  town,  39,  41,  72,  97,  101,  115, 

120,  235,  307,  35-3,  389,  403,  550. 
Separation,  the,  4-6. 
Sequa.sson,  a  Conn,  sachem,  116,  116. 
Sergeant,  town,  duties  of,  131 ;  deputy,  273. 
Servants,  law  to  protect,  454. 
Sessions  of  Assembly,  brief,  257  ;  regulations  of; 

270 ;  secret,  272  ;  technical,  453 ;    see  Gen- 
eral Assy. 
Shaw,  George,  13.3. 
Shawmut,  see  Boston. 
Shawomet,  see  Warwick. 
Sheffield,  Joseph,  552-5. 
Sherman,  Philip,  124, 127, 185,  219,  229. 
Shipbuilding,  142. 

Shotten,  Sampson,  1.3-3,  153, 167, 176,  183. 
Shrewdness,  Indian,  82. 
Shrimpton,  Samuel,  469. 
Silver  ore,  225;  coined,  279. 
"  Simplicities  Defence,"  referred  to,  167,  168, 

175,  183,  186,  188,  194,  322. 
Six  Nations,  tribes,  73. 
Sizars,  49. 

Skelton,  Rev.  Samuel,  20,  24,  26,  2& 
Skirmish,  first,  with  Indians,  162. 

Slaverv,  law  against,  240,  403,  419. 

Small-pox,  73,  523. 

Smith.  Adam,  "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  referred  to, 

464. 
Smith,  Edward,  250. 
Smith,  Capt,  John,  8 
Smith,  John,  the  miller,  97,  101,  409. 
Smith,  John,  of  Warwick,  219,  222,  295 ;  Pres. 

226,  240. 
Smith,  Rev.  Ralph,  22,  164,  165. 
Smith,  Richard    195,  266,  272.  282.  307  308.  812, 


572 


GENERAL   INDEX   TO   VOLUME   FIRST. 


8SS,  359,  366.  451.  456,  457,  463,  469,  472,  488, 
4S4,  500,  602,  608,  520. 

Smith,  Richard,  Jr.,  2S3,  305,  307,  4S4, 

Sniithfleld,  120. 

Smyth,  Francis,  196. 

Socho,  sachem  of  Narrt.,  276  n. 

S'ocietj'  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,  560. 

Soconoco,  sachem  of  Pawtuxet,  74,  176;  Bub- 
mits  to  Mass.,  177.  196. 

8oi)hv  Manor,  see  Prudence  Island. 

Soul  "Liberty,  Williams' views  of,  126,254;  see 
Religious  Freedom. 

Southertown,  277,  2S2,  283,  303,  312;  named 
Stonington,  333,  which  see. 

Sowams,  69,  9S,  3SS. 

Sparks,  Jared,  1S5  n.,  475  n. 

Speedwell,  the  ve.ssel,  7. 

Spicer,  Thomas,  133. 

Spirits,  sale  of  forbidden,  227,  251 ;  seized,  425. 

Springfield,  400,  408. 

Squashes,  84. 

Suimpers'  Hill,  258  n. 

Standish.  Miles.  16,  397. 

Stanton,  or  Stainton,  Kobert,  183,  276. 

Stanton,  Robert,  the  younger,  410. 

Stanton,  Mary,  269. 

Stanton,  Tboinas,  346. 

Staples,  W.  K.,  "  Annals  of  Prov."  referred  to, 
101,  102,  lOS,  112, 121,  167,  214,  254,  266,  258, 
335,  8S9,  419,  480,  481,  512. 

Star  Chamber,  4,  47. 

State,  term  first  apidied  to  E.  I.,  149. 

Statistics  of  R.  I.,  4SS-491. 

Staughton,  Capt.,  95. 

Staughton,  Gov.  William,  898,  446,  452,  463,  469, 
531. 

Stevenson,  Marmaduke,  273. 

Stirling,  Earl  of,  362. 

Slocks.  128,  142,  257,  313,  470,  486. 

Stone,  Capt.,  87,  S9. 

Stonington,  383,  884,  389,  841,  343-6,  348,  851, 
865,  .364,  411,  457,  461,  521,  580. 

Strange,  Lott,  341. 

Strawberries,  84. 

Stubbs,  Quaker  preacher,  860,  361. 

Study  Hill,  98. 

Sturgeon,  80. 

Stuyv£sant,  Gov.  Peter,  241. 

Styles,  President,  his  Diary,  121. 

Submission,  of  Pawtuxet  men  to  Mass.,  Ill ;  of 
the  sachems.  190,  284,  505;  E.  I.  to  Crom- 
well, 266,  257 ;  of  Coddington,  259 ;  of  Paw- 
tuxet men  to  E.  I.,  267  ;  law  against,  270. 

Subscription  book  of  James  I.,  49. 

Succession  of  Races,  law  of  the,  420-3. 

Sudbury,  408. 

Suttblk  county,  annexations  to,  231,  277. 

Sugar,  dutv  on,  481. 

Sunday  law.s  252,  867,  464. 

Supremacy,  act  of,  8. 

Supreme  Court  over  N.  Eng.  asked  for,  446. 

Surgery,  license  to  practise,  162. 

Sutton's  Hospital,  47. 

Swanzey,  896. 

Swedes,  surrender.  309. 

Swimmers,  Indian,  80. 

Swine,  acts  regulating,  132,141, 158. 

Synod  at  Newtown,  61-2. 


Talcot,  Malor,  413.  415. 
Talluian,  Peter.  276,  320. 
Tufhtassuck.  sachem  of  Narrt,  212. 
Taunton,  352,  866,  899. 


Tavern,  first  in  E.  I.,  128;  licensed,  257;  rcga- 

lated,  260 ;  act  repealed,  488. 
Taxes  laid,  205,  271,  272,  276,  813,  320,  329,  331. 

846,  352,  450,  473,  479,  .607,  508,  510,  520,  581. 

632,  5i2 ;  laws  of,  865,  441,  642 ;  difficult  to 

collect,  534. 
Temperance  petition,  the  earliest,  324. 
Terrv,  Thomas,  306. 
Test  Act  in  Mass.,  17-19 ;  results  of,  68. 
Tew,  Eichard,  263,  278. 
Thames  riveT,  89,  96. 

Thanksgiving  days,  20,  62,  95,  96,  506,  508,  609. 
Thatcher's   "  Indian    Biography,"   referred  to, 

418. 
Thatcher,  Dep.  Coll.  of  Boston,  471.  - 

"  The  Truth  Exalted,"  referred  to,  862. 
Theocracy  in  Mass.,  33. 
Thompson,  Robert,  336. 
Throckmorton,  John,  100. 
Tibbitts,  Henry,  425. 
Tiverton,  389,  535. 
Tobacco,  84,  481. 
Tockwotten,  40. 

Toleration,  how  viewed  by  the  Puritans,  44,  45. 
Tomahiiwk,  not  of  Indian  origin,  75. 
Tonnage  duties,  522. 
Torrev,  Joseph,  250.  276,  306,  307,  312,  327,  341, 

343,  344. 
Town  House,  name  first  given,  520. 
Town   charters  granted,  226;  Govts,  provided 

for,  487. 
Towns  incorporated,  337,  364,  868,  428,   449; 

names  changed,  485. 
Town   Councils,  204,  466 ;    their  engagement, 

228 ;  powers  of.  869,  468. 
Training,  first  gener.al,  129. 
Treason  trials,  Bewett,  243 ;  Harris.  354. 
Treat,  Maj.  Gen.,  400,  401,  403,  406;   Gov.  of 

Conn.,  526. 
Treatv,  with  Massasoit,  87 ;  Miantinomi,  92, 116; 

Narrt.,   144,  197;    Church's,  414;    of  Eys- 

wick,  539. 
Trial  of  three  murderers  at  Plymouth,  106. 
Tribute  paid  by  Indians,  815,  893. 
Trimming,  a  pirate,  521. 
Trinity  College,  47. 
Trinity  Church  memorial,  669. 
Trippe,  John,  133. 
Troops,  royal,  first,  in  N.  Eng.,  498. 
Trout,  72. 
Truckinasters,  180. 
Trumbull's  "  Hist,  of  Conn."  referred  to,  96, 117 

142,  197,  418,  493,  504. 
Turner,  Lawrence,  306. 
Turkeys,  wild,  SO. 

Turks,  inoculation  derived  from  the,  623  n. 
"  Types  of  Mankind,"  423. 


u 

Uncas,  sachem  of  Mohegans,  93,  115,  116, 117 

168,  196-9,  224.  264,  392,  460. 
Underbill,  Capt.  John,  64,  91,  92,  95,  246. 
Uniformitv,  act  of,  3;  attempted,  in  Mass.,  36. 
United  Colonies  of  N.  Eng.,  115.  117.  166,  197 

199,  224,  239.  246,  248,  253,  268,  275,  822,  38;J, 

606;  refuse  E.  I.,  228;  declared  to  be  usurp 

crs,  816. 
Universalist  preacher,  trial  of  a,  183-4. 
Universities,  English,  classification  of  students^ 

49. 
Updike  house,  195  n. 
Upham,  Charles  W.,  185  n.,  464  n. 

Uselton, ,  punished,  851. 

Usher,  John,  508. 


GENERAL    INDEX    TO    VOLUME    FIRST. 


573 


Vaccination,  623. 

Vane,  Gov.  Sir  Henry,  53,  55,  56,  57,  60,  68,  TO, 

SS,  92,  124,  141,  249,  250,  252. 
VauL'han,  William,  276. 
Veils  discussed  in  Mass.,  26. 
Venison,  85,  130. 
Verdicts,  unexplained,  435. 
Verin,  Joshua,  97,  101,  104, 105. 
Vernon,  Daniel,  486, 
Verrazauo,  discovers  E.  I.,  70. 
Vice-royalty  proposed  for  N.  Eng.,  535,  536. 
Viewers  of  corn,  Ac,  appointed,  129. 
Vincent,  P.,  91. 
Vindictiveness,  Indian,  75. 
Virginia,  S7,  479,  514,  527. 
Vcjting,  with  sealed  ballots,  181 ;  by  proxy,  143, 

202,   454 ;    requisites  for,   155 ;    fraudulent, 

227 ;    how  punished,  329 ;   in  Gen.  Assy., 

454. 


W 


Wadsworth,  Capt.,  408. 

Wales,  48. 

Walker.  John.  124. 

Walker,  Thomas,  501. 

Wall,  John,  135. 

Walley,  Major  John,  520. 

Walnuts,  84. 

Wampanoas  tribe,  23,  73,  120,  266,  3S9,  420. 

Wainpuin-peage,  81,  176,  227,  278. 

WaiTisutta,  sachem  of  Wampanoags,  266,  387, 
388-392. 

Wanasquatucket  river.  99,  101,  430,  435. 

War,  Pequot,  88-96  ;  Moheg.  and  Narrt.,  115-16, 
196 ;  U.  CoLs.  and  Narrt.,  197,  253 ;  Kns.  and 
IIol..  241,  356,  and  Franco,  330;  Philip's, 
396-420  ;  Fr.  and  Eng.,  519  ;  alarm  of,  158, 
248,  S3I),  350. 

Ward,  Eev.  N.,  quoted,  45. 

Ward.  Attorney  General,  517. 

Warner.  John,  1U3,  176,  187,190,222,233,470; 
trials,  241,  287-9. 

Warrants  against  Harris,  263,  354. 

Warren,  98  n. 

Warwick,  112,  116,  122,  163,  176,  177,  201,  205, 
313,  353;  attacked,  180-3;  settlement  sus- 
pended, 189 ;  appeal  to  Eng.,  191,  238 ; 
named,  193  ;  return  to,  194,  425;  organized, 
206;  fear  of  Indians,  222;  Gen.  Assy,  at, 
225,  226,  345,  468,  471,  479  ;  demands  protec- 
tion, 229 ;  annexed  by  Mass.,  23U-1,  to 
Plym.,  232;  Royal  Corns,  at,  316,319,322; 
protests,  325,  326,  342,  859,  865,  536;  dispute 
with  Newport,  836;  broken  up,  406;  burnt, 
408 ;  battle  near,  415 ;  Dutch  disturbance  at, 
241 ;  proposes  reunion,  242,  243 ;  two  sets 
of  A.ssts.,  245,  246 ;  sues  Mass.,  258 ;  sentence 
•  of  banishment  mitigated,  268;  order  for  its 
repeal,  452;  riot,  271;  boundary  disputes, 
4:32-8,  536,  545 ;  agents  in  Eng.,  434,  446 ; 
Potowomut,  467  ;  address  to  the  King,  473  ; 
wolves  in,  508  ;  claimed  by  Conn. ,.545. 

Warwick,  Earl  of.  11.3,  193,  217,  218,  226. 

Watch,  established,  158,  557. 

Watch  Hill,  331. 

Water  bailies.  204. 

Water  mill,  13l>. 

WaterhoHse,  Dr.,  523  n. 

Waterman,  Nathaniel,  4-34. 

Waterman,  Eichard^  97,  100,  107,  176, 1S4, 187, 
432. 


Waters,  Thomas,  468. 

Watertown,  187. 

Wattaconoges,  190. 

Weathersfleld,  92,  93. 

Weaver,  Capt.,  520. 

Weeounkhass,  squaw  sachem  of  Niantics,  460, 
461. 

Weetamo,  squaw  sachem  of  Pocasset,  389,  392, 
895,  399. 

Weights  and  measures,  869,  540. 

Weirs,  used  by  Indians,  80. 

Weld's  "Else,  Eeign,  and  Euin,"  62,  63,  64,  65. 

Wells,  arrested,  461. 

Weequashcooke,  338. 

Westcott,  Eobert.  272. 

Westcott,  Stukelv,  100,  107,  245. 

Westerly,  276,  277,  282,  316,  333,  841,  844,  345, 
348,  350,  351,  353,  855,  357,  864,  446,  453, 
450-7,  461,  530,  532,  545,  552,  553 ;  incorp., 
337;  called  Haversham,  485. 

Weston,  Francis,  100,  107,  110,  176, 187. 

Weymouth,  269,  407. 

Whales,  85. 

Whaley,  the  regicide,  413. 

Wharton,  Eichard,  503. 

What  cheer,  40, 101. 

Wheelwright,  Eev.  John,  52,  56 ;  proceedings 
against,  59-63,  68. 

Whipping-post,  to  be  made,  128, 142,  820,  351 ; 
abolished,  129  n. 

Whipple,  John,  jr.,  361,425,503,52-3. 

Whititift,  Archbishop,  5. 

Whortleberries,  84. 

Wickenden,  William,  103, 181. 

Wickes,  Francis,  97,  103. 

Wickes,  John,  13-3,  167,  170,  176, 187, 190,  229, 
261,  272,  342 ;  death,  370. 

Wickford,  9-3,  272,  282,  805,  834,  335,  844-7,  406, 
427,  551 ;  Conn,  court  at,  368. 

Wigwams,  85. 

Wiibore,  Samuel,  124,  127,  128,  131,267;  Mr., 
197. 

Wilcocks,  Mr.,  463. 

Willard,  Major,  253. 

Willett,  Thomas,  266,  814.  890. 

William  III.  and  Mary,  510,  613,  615,  532,  543. 

Williams,  Providence,  107,  420. 

Williams,  Eobert,  254,  361 

Williams,  Eodericus,  48-50. 

Williams,  Eoger,  of  Dorchester,  50. 

Williams,  Eoger,  20,  69,  70,  72,  78,  87,  88, 124. 
154,  172,  203,  205,  219,  221,  227,  2-32,  295,  311, 
312,  315,  325,  342,  347,  880,  409,  414, 419,  430, 
432.  434,  456,  463.  514 ;  at  Salem,  21,  24,  28 ; 
at  Plym.,  22,  23 ;  his  views  misrepresented, 
25,  26",  35,  292  ;  proceedings  against.  27-9 ; 
ordained,  28;  his  views  upon  oaths,  .'50-32; 
his  protests,  34,  87;  charges  against,  35,  56; 
banished,  87;  settles  at  Seekonk,  39,  at 
Pro  v.,  40 ;  causes  of  his  banishment,  41-6 ; 
early  life,  47-50 ;  prevents  the  Pequot 
league,  90 ;  writings  quoted,  91,  97,  and  see 
"Key;"  interprets  treaty,  92;  motives  in 
comins  to  E.  I.,  97-9 ;  purchase  of  Prov., 
100,  101,  of  Prudence  Island,  105,  362 ;  son 
born,  106 ;  his  baptism,  107 ;  sent  to  Eng., 
113,  158  ;  obtains  charter,  114;  returns,  115; 
treats  with  Massasoit,  120;  opposes  Gorton, 
172,  173 ;  in  Narrt.,  195 ;  Indians  send  for, 
196 ;  prevents  war  a  second  time,  197  ;  Dep. 
Pres.,  225;  sent  to  Eng.  a  second  time,  238. 
239 ;  refuses  to  be  Gov.,  242 ;  return,  250 ; 
Pres.,  252,  261;  defends  Indians,  253;  de- 
fines soul  liberty,  254-5;  Judge,  259;  goes 
to  Boston,  260 :  "Harris  controversy,  262^ ; 
mediates  with  Mass.,  268 ;  warns  the  Ather- 


574 


GENERAL   INDEX   TO    VOLUME   FIRST. 


ton  Co..  272:  Quaker  debate,  800-2;  Capt. 

of  militia.  40S ;  death,  475-7. 
Wills,  made  by  town  councils,  209;  probate  of, 

369. 
Willys,  Mr.,  836. 

Wilson,  George  and  Deborah,  265. 
Wilson,  Samuel,  267,  347. 
Wilson,  Eev.  John,  22,  53,  56,  68-60, 
Windmill  hill,  881. 
Windmill,  first  in  K.  I.,  870. 
Windsor,  93. 
Winslow,  Gov.  Edward,  40,  41,  46,  159,  160, 161, 

165,  193.  194,  215,  216. 
Winslow,  Josiah,  2SS,  390,  391,  403,  415,  436. 
Winsor,  .Toshua,  103. 
Winthroi..  Gov.  John,  9,  14.  21,  22.  26,  46,  55,  56, 

60.  87,  92,  105, 172, 1S2, 197,  225,  22S,  362. 
Winthrop,   Gov.  John,  ir..  of  Conn.,  225,  227, 

272,  20()-9,  300,  801, '385,  843,  847,  848,852, 

863,  878-386.  411. 
Winthrop,  Gov.  Fitz  John,  of  Conn.,  548. 
Winthrop.  M.i.ior  General,  520,  585. 
Winthrop.  Stephen.  105. 
"  Winthrop's  Journal."  referred  to,  16. 21. 26,  80, 

34,  87,  50,  56,  58,  62,  64,  98, 104, 107, 117, 134, 


139, 140, 147, 151, 152,  167, 158, 168, 178, 182, 

183.  191, 193,  215,  216,  226. 
Witchcraft,  525. 
AVitherell,  Daniel,  484. 
Witnesses,  exempt  from  arrest,  868. 
WoUaston.  Capt..  15. 
Wolves,  73,  154,  161,  315,  393,  508,  534. 
Women,  Indian,  S4,  85. 
Wonemvtonomy,    sachem  of  Aquedncck,  78 

hill,"831. 
Woodman,  John,  507. 
Wriehtington,  Robert,  559. 
Wuddall,  or  Waddell,  William,  176, 187. 


Yellow  fever,  73. 

York,  Duke  of,  504. 

Younsr,  Eev.  Alex.,  "Chronicles,"  referred  ta  T 

10, 12, 185. 


Zeal,  efficient,  of  Wilson,  60i 


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